WICCOPEE An eight-acre air-supported dome to be called the Sports Kingdome now has a piece of land on which to build.

A 33-acre parcel was bought Wednesday by Hopewell Sportsdome Ventures LLC from a subsidiary of the Linuo Solar Group, owner of what is commonly known as the former IBM Corp. West Campus.

Donato “Dan” Fraioli, head of the group and of the company that makes the air dome that will be erected on the site, confirmed the deal. The land is a strip parallel to Route 52, just west of John Jay High School in the Town of East Fishkill.

​The investment will come to about $25 million, Fraioli said, with funding “ready to go” and coming from friends and family. It will be larger than any other dome his company has built, he said.

The Sports Kingdome’s market will be athletic organizations that want all-weather, year-round space for games, practice or tournaments. Fraioli said it will draw not only from the local area but from a wider region on weekends. Special non-sports events may also be held occasionally, he said.

His time target: Start building within a month, doing site work. Then, build the clubhouse inside the dome. Begin marketing to users in early 2016. Open it by late 2016 or early 2017.

When open, Sports Kingdome will employ between 75 and 100 people, with the current model showing 84 positions.

The synthetic turf will have several layout models, changing with customer needs and schedules, Fraioli said. Sports can include baseball, football, soccer, lacrosse, field hockey and “anything that you would play on turf.”

“We’ll be able to cater to all turf teams. We’re renting out turf time and we have the flexibility to change those fields into multiple configurations,” he said.

The clubhouse would have a reception area, a large restaurant and a concession area, batting cages, restrooms, a strength and conditioning area, an area for a nurse and orthopedic consultation, and a health facility offering services like massage therapy.

Fraioli is also CEO of Air Structures American Technologies, Inc., which has built domes for several professional sports teams and other users. The domes are made using a net of cables spanning the exterior to provide strength to the polyester vinyl skin. He said the design can withstand hurricane-force winds and heavy snow loads. It’s to be heated and air-conditioned.

Fraioli said he has all the local approvals he needs and is ready to ask for building permits. A ten-foot concrete foundation measuring 468 feet wide and 740 feet long anchors the dome, which is to be 150 feet tall.

Town Supervisor John Hickman said the town has made changes in zoning to allow such a facility in an industrial zone.

“They’ve got their approvals,” Hickman said, all but a “few odds and ends” that he did not see as obstacles. “It looks like it’s on track to get going.”

Hickman said, “My feeling is that they’re not going to have a hard time filling it up.” Groups do go to other facilities, but this one will have advantages. It’s bigger, it has a prime location near Interstate 84 and the Taconic State Parkway, and it will be “a brand-new facility and state of the art.”

The purchase is a significant one for Dutchess County and the region, said Steve Salomone, a broker with Houlihan Lawrence Commercial Group, which was involved in the deal.

“We are very excited about this,” he said. “I feel it’s really going to kickstart things for us. We are starting to see properties now, with people inquiring… looking at real estate we have in the area with much more interest than before.”

He said the projection is 500,000 or more visitors per year to the dome, a flow of people that will tend to attract more development interest.

Craig Wolf: 845-437-4815; cwolf@poughkeepsiejournal.com; Twitter: @craigwolfPJ