The St. James, the region’s largest indoor multiuse sports complex, opens Saturday — a half decade in the making.
Sitting on 20 acres at 6805 Industrial Road, the 450,000-square-foot sports, entertainment and wellness complex has drawn attention for its many uses: the 160-yard turf field with 65-foot-high ceiling, twin ice rinks for hockey and figure skating, climbing wall, basketball and volleyball court house, squash and indoor golf center, batting cages, active entertainment center, Olympic-sized pool, gymnastics room and a fitness center. And that’s maybe half of it.
Visitors will be able to access most of St. James’ offerings come Saturday, but there are exceptions.
For example, the restaurant Vim and Victor, a concept from celebrity chef Spike Mendelsohn, is expected to open in four to six weeks, per The St. James General Manager Rob Kram. Vim and Victor will feature communal dining with indoor and outdoor seating, a market café and full bar with St. James-tailored cocktails.
In the meantime, Mendelsohn and The St. James will have food and beverage offerings in a temporary space — the future space of Super, Awesome and Amazing, the facility’s active entertainment center. The only portion of the active entertainment center that will be open to the public for the grand opening is the 6,000-square-foot indoor water park.
Kram said the retail boutique also isn’t quite ready. And construction of the MedStar health and wellness center isn’t expected to get underway until January, though MedStar staff will be on site Saturday.
Each of these spaces will host their own grand opening events as they come online.
“This is the place that this community has been dying for for many years,” Kram said. “The whole family can come and engage multiple different pursuits of their passions all in one place.”
The Washington Business Journal has chronicled The St. James since it was first proposed by co-founders Kendrick Ashton and Craig Dixon for a site in Alexandria in June 2013. It was a construction site the last time we visited and the group behind it has already announced an expansion to the Midwest. Have a look at the near finished product, in the gallery.
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