Photo by Shelley Hanson - Full parking lots are the norm these days at the Highlands Sports Complex, as loosened COVID-19 restrictions have allowed the complex to move full steam ahead.

TRIADELPHIA — Despite opening midway through the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Highlands Sports Complex is coming into its own amid a recent relaxing of regulations, now welcoming thousands each week.

General Manager Harvey Greenidge said the 200,000-square-foot facility’s busy season is from January to June, when most weekends are occupied by various sports tournaments.

“We are busy every weekend. We have tournaments whether it’s basketball tournaments, wrestling, cheerleading; we have tournaments every weekend bringing in between 1,000 to 2,000 people,” Greenidge said.

“This is what we expect; this is our busy time.”

The complex opened its doors to the public in August 2020, but restrictions on public gatherings have hampered crowds until recently. Ohio County Commission president Randy Wharton said Friday that the complex still had yet to live up to its full potential.

“The Highlands Sports Complex opened just in time for COVID to hit,” he said. “… It’s a beautiful facility; there’s absolutely nothing in the area like it. They have the capability to host any kind of tournament, from basketball to soccer, lacrosse, even archery – anything you need a field or a court for, they can do it.

“It has always been our hope that not only would it be a facility that was booked up every weekend, bringing hundreds of thousands of people to The Highlands, but that it would be a catalyst for bringing people to shop, stay, and in turn, get them back. I’m not sure we’re up to that potential, even post-COVID, but we’re certainly working to get up to that point.”

In addition to athletic events, community organizers are also utilizing the facility for smaller-scale functions. Vineyard Church is holding an indoor Easter egg hunt on April 2, using the site’s Nerf and inflatable attractions alongside the indoor turf fields.

Wharton added that he was glad to see the complex being used for community needs, when it would otherwise have sat idle.

“If that’s the highest and best use for it on that particular day, then yes,” Wharton said. “Just because it’s a sports complex doesn’t mean it can’t be used for any other good thing for the community, especially one that involves children.

“A lot of those parents bringing their kids to the Easter egg hunt might also be the parents bringing their kids to soccer, basketball and wrestling tournaments. Any time you have a facility like that, you need to get maximum usage out of it. If that’s how we’re running it, that’s exactly what I would do. … I’d certainly be open to anything that would utilize the space, bring people to the facility, and have them come to The Highlands.”