SOMERSWORTH — Hilltop Fun Center has been a staple in the community since its opening in 1986. Now there are big plans in its backyard, where a sports dome is poised to become one of biggest indoor sports facilities on the Seacoast.
The sports dome is planned to open in 2022 with 135,000 square feet of space, featuring two full football fields worth of field turf for year-round play of multiple sports for all ages. It’s seen as an ideal neighbor for the Hilltop Fun Center on Route 108, with its go-karts, mini-golf, batting cages and an arcade.
Brian Cote, owner of the Hilltop Fun Center, sold the driving range land to Craig Riotto, principal of New England Sports Hub, forming a relationship he believes will benefit both businesses and make it a destination for sports and recreation.
Cote said the need for a transformation at Hilltop Fun Center dates back to 2014. That’s when he bought the family-run business, which had been owned by his late brother, Steve. Golf driving range revenues “had fallen by the wayside” from its peak in the 1990s. Cote said that was primarily driven by increased competition from The Oaks golf course, which opened 2.9 miles up Route 108, among other courses and driving ranges across the region. He didn’t find a solution until years later.
In March 2020, the coronavirus pandemic hit and a storm badly damaged the netting and cables along Hilltop Fun Center’s driving range. The repairs would’ve cost $50,000, which didn’t make sense financially.
“That’s when Craig Riotto and his team came to me about purchasing the land for this sports dome project. I realized sometimes things are meant to be,” Cote said. “He reminds me of me 20 years ago, he’s got the same kind of passion that I have for my business. I knew I wanted to make this work.”
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The land deal was done and Riotto, a former Somersworth Middle School basketball coach, is now working toward creating a 100-foot tall enclosed athletic and fitness facility. Riotto received site plan approval from the city’s Planning Board in June, clearing the way for the project to move forward.
“The number of ways we can configure this space are limitless,” Riotto said. “It’s a place where you walk inside, but still feel like you’re outside: with powerful lights that cast up and reflect off the interior fabric, filling the entire space with luminescent, indirect brightness.”
The inflatable dome has enough room to accommodate training areas for baseball, soccer, football, softball, lacrosse or field hockey and other sports, too. Cote sees big benefits to youth teams being drawn to the sports dome and also going to Hilltop Fun Center for its arcades and games.
“I remember telling Craig ‘You need to be prepared because we are going to knock this out of the friggin’ ballpark,’” Cote said. “I’m looking at him not just as a neighbor, but more as a partner, because the synergy is so strong between my business and the future sports dome.”
Beside the turf will be a virtual golf lounge with eight video golf simulators and a bar area, a snack bar, multi-use rooms, restrooms and an area set aside for speed and agility training. When there aren’t games or practices going on, the turf can be transformed into a 170-yard driving range.
“You can hit live balls on the 170-yard range, and then play 18 holes in the lounge,” Riotto said.
Finding the right spot in Somersworth
The sports dome is already three years in the making. Riotto looked at properties across the Tri-Cities, saying the search was the “most grueling part of the development process.” One conversation with his former teacher and mentor Dana Hilliard set Riotto’s sights on Somersworth, where Hilliard is mayor and a school administrator.
“If it weren’t for Mayor Hilliard’s patience, vision, and rich understanding of the area, who knows if or when we would have looked so closely at Somersworth’s commercial district?” Riotto said. “There are countless variables that go into proper location selection for a business like this. You want it to be accessible, to be close to the highway, hotels, restaurants and retail. This checked all those boxes.”
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After a 112-acre site behind Home Depot in Somersworth didn’t pan out, he came across the Cote’s property and knew it would be the future home of the sports dome.
“Once we realized Brian’s driving range could accommodate what we wanted to build, it was that classic story of one thing rapidly leading to the next,” Riotto said. “It came down to patience, due diligence, and working with the right people to make this happen. Now that plans are solidifying, we’re really looking forward to exploring ways to maximize synergy.”
Hilliard said he is “beaming with pride” to see the project inching closer to being a reality.
“This is a big game changer for Somersworth,” Hilliard said. “It is a reflection of how this community is continuing to move in the right direction.”
What it means for local sports teams
Matt Caffelle, president of ROSO Soccer Club, said the sports dome is a huge opportunity for athletes in the area to have a state-of-the-art athletic complex in their backyard.
Seacoast United has indoor facilities with turf fields in Hampton and Epping, where many local teams of all ages play, soccer, field hockey, lacrosse and more. Some travel longer distances to places like the New Hampshire Sportsdome in Hooksett or the Hampshire Dome in Milford.
The Somersworth facility with give Tri-City area teams a closer option.
“This opens up participation by giving families the opportunity to be able to essentially go down the street instead of driving for more than 40 minutes to an hour one way for a 50-minute game,” Caffelle said.
The space can be divided with mobile nets so multiple games or multiple sports can happen at once.
“Even with two 7v7 adult soccer games, a 5v5 U12 (ages 12 and under) game, and a 5v5 U10 (ages 10 and under) game set up, we can still have like a full-size baseball diamond with six batting cages going,” Riotto said.
When set up for baseball, the dome can fit two full fields, two infields, and batting cages. Riotto calls it “a one-of-a-kind indoor baseball experience.”
“They can get warmed up and run their infield, take a bunch of swings in the batting cages, and then hop on one of our two full-size fields and play a live baseball game in the middle of winter,” Riotto said.
Caffelle said being able to play sports year-round also keeps athletes fit so there’s less of a rebound period when the outdoor season begins in the spring.
“I coach two teams in the fall and three teams this spring, and the first handful of practices this spring is really to knock the rust off after the winter,” Caffelle said.
Riotto said as a former coach with a love for sports, the most rewarding part of the project is creating a place where coaches, parents, and officials can come together and collaborate to offer unique training opportunities that bolster the primary sports seasons.
“Some leagues will be competitive, some will be more geared toward play and recreation, while others will be tailored specifically for player growth and development,” Riotto said. “We are dialing in the optimal layout of that turf field so that we are perfectly fitting the needs of the market and sports programs. We’re focused on correcting the supply and demand imbalance for indoor turf in the Tri-City area.”
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Coach David Rouleau of Legion Baseball Dover Post 8 said the sports dome will play a huge part in making a name for Seacoast athletes.
“We’ve needed something like this here in the Tri-Cities area for forever,” Rouleau said. “Having this nearby will give our players a big head start. Ideally we can get players working on fine-tuning fundamentals from January through March so when the school sports season heats up, players are firing on all cylinders.”
Not just a dome, it’s a venue
Somersworth Economic Development Manager Robin Comstock has called the complex a “huge asset” that will market Somersworth as a visitor destination.
While the complex primarily caters to sports, it could also transform into a venue for functions, expositions or weddings.
“We had to think about when demand for indoor turf naturally subsides because the snow melts and everyone’s outside, how do we transform this facility and make it something that people still want to come to?” Riotto said.
The answer is to find new uses for it. With court tiles, the turf can become a court for basketball, volleyball or pickleball. With some planning and a stage, it can become an event venue.
“There will be an event component to the sports dome,” Riotto said. “Things like expo events, concerts, festivals and live performances can make this location a regional attraction that catalyzes future economic development.”
Riotto said the Hampshire Dome in Milford has seen similar success with this way of thinking for two decades.
“That’s what we want to bring to Somersworth and the New Hampshire Seacoast, it’s going to be a hub of culture just as much as it’s a hub for sports,” Riotto said.
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Hillard said that the possibilities of using the dome as a venue space is exciting for the city.
“As a venue, it can be used for events like graduation ceremonies, but it can also become a center for the arts with concerts or conventions,” Hilliard said. “I find it exciting that instead of having to drive over the bridge to celebrate the performing arts in Portsmouth, or driving as far as Manchester or Boston, I can drive up the street and stay right here in the city of Somersworth.”
What’s next
The sports dome is still more than a year away from being a reality, according to Riotto, who said he’s hard at work planning.
“We’ve pivoted from the municipal planning process to preconstruction mode,” Riotto said. “The next few months are all about finalizing the blueprint that makes for an efficient buildout starting next spring and has us opening on schedule come fall 2022.”
Caffelle said while Somersworth may be the dome’s home, it’s something that will have far-reaching impacts.
“It’s super exciting to see this kind of facility coming to Somersworth, and for the city to host that opportunity not just for our local kids, but for the whole region,” Caffelle said.
