PEORIA, Ill. (25News Now) – Ten years ago, a Central Illinois dad thought he probably wasn’t the only parent looking for a spot to enjoy baseball no matter the weather. Josh Bellamy was looking for a place for his son to practice all year, and he ended up building one himself.
Bellamy bought a warehouse that used to be an HVAC distribution company, and converted it into an indoor space to play baseball and soccer. Now, The Yard Peoria is celebrating 10 years of business.
“It’s a bit surreal, because lots of folks thought that I was crazy, which I may be, for trying to create such a large space, but it’s really about the community and seeing the community respond,” Bellamy said.
After The Yard opened, all five of his kids practiced sports there. The Yard has 37,000 square feet for baseball and 20,000 square feet for soccer.
There are several teams who practice or play there on a regular basis, but the owner doesn’t want to have an allegiance to just one.
“It’s navigating and trying to remain neutral to make sure that the entire community has a space to play if they choose to and I would say we’re pretty proud of that,” Bellamy said.
But, it’s not just athletics. Staff tell 25News there’s a ‘say yes,’ mentality around The Yard that’s led to them hosting all kinds of events, from concerts to dog shows.
“We didn’t dream of that when we first opened this facility. It just shows that we can do anything here. They just utilize the space, and then other than that we can make it happen from a logistics standpoint,” said Jordan Miller, the facilities manager at The Yard.
To get to 10 years, the business had to endure weather challenges with the building and temporarily shutting down during the pandemic.
But, Bellamy said The Yard had it’s busiest year yet, and they anticipate continued growth.
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