By Nicholas Brown
Staff Writer

Auburn planners may soon see an official proposal for a commercial indoor athletic complex that could attract visitors from throughout the region.

Local developer Doug Leppert recently met with the Auburn Planning Board for a review of the plans, and expects to file a site plan application for the sports dome in the coming months.

Preliminary plans center around a 137,000-square-foot, 78-foot-tall inflatable dome. Inside the dome would be a regulation soccer field surrounded by a track, said Leppert.

The proposed site is 14 acres off Route 28, near Golden Ledge Drive.

Leppert said the sports facility could be a large draw for people looking to play a variety of sports, including soccer, field hockey, baseball and softball.

“You need it, we can do it,” said Leppert. “There’s a need for something like this in the area.”

Preliminary plans also include room for 275 parking spaces, and a restaurant/sports bar, Leppert said. Leppert also plans administrative offices, rest rooms, locker rooms and perhaps a small fitness center.

Leppert, an Auburn resident, said he’s gotten largely positive feedback from local planning officials and other residents.

“I haven’t heard a lot of negative things, but sometimes they don’t tell you to your face,” he said.

The proposed site is part of a subdivision of what was a 78-acre industrial site. Other nearby uses include, or may soon include, a cellular phone tower, a self-storage facility and a construction business.

The potential dome site sits within the Lake Massabesic watershed area, and is about 4,000 feet from the south end of Lake Massabesic, according to town hall records.

Earlier this year, the town’s zoning board granted the project both a special exception and a variance for a wetlands setback, a special exception that would allow the indoor commercial use on an industrial parcel, and a variance from the town’s building height limitation of 42 feet.