Volleyball venue could more than double in size

An outdoor volleyball venue in Grand Park wants to expand its operations by offering indoor play.

iBeach31 opened last April at 17341 Westfield Park Road, behind the Indiana Soccer Academy. The venue has six sand volleyball courts and hosts adult, youth and intramural leagues, and volleyball clinics and camps. The courts are also open for free play and can be rented for private events.

Following a successful first season, which wrapped up in the fall, iBeach 31 is hoping to open an indoor facility at the same site, northwest of East 186^th Street and Grand Park Boulevard.  

The facility is owned by Katie Conner, a Westfield resident who has played volleyball her whole life and now shares the sport with her five children.

She told IBJ she plans to open a 46,000-square-foot facility that would have five hard-surface courts and five sand courts, a 2,250-square-foot bar and restaurant and a nearly 1,700-square-foot pro shop. The venue would be multi-sport but primarily used for volleyball.

There would also be a couple of offices for staff and viewing areas for people to watch tournaments, according to a concept plan submitted to the city of Westfield. iBeach31 would also add two outdoor courts.

Conner said her venue diversifies the sports options in Grand Park, where there are no other beach volleyball courts. She said the park is a good place to showcase the sport. “It’s something unique and new that brings families together,” she said.

Conner has requested the three-acre expansion site be rezoned to a planned unit development to accommodate the facility. The site is currently zoned agricultural/single-family rural district. The project was introduced to the Westfield City Council this week.

Plans call for a steel frame, fabric building, but that could change, Conner said. The three main advantages to a fabric building, she said, are that it can be quickly constructed, it offers double the energy efficiency of a metal building, and the interior lining is designed specifically for sports.

The project is slated for a public hearing at the April 1 plan commission meeting.