Native youth sports activities supporters and TFMoran carry new life to sports activities lovers in Southern N.H. |

The Hooksett facility will host soccer, lacrosse, field hockey, flag soccer, baseball, softball and more.

“The sound of laughter is like the domed dome of a temple of happiness,” says Milan Kundera, a French writer of Czech origin. He may not have thought of the New Hampshire SportsDome when he uttered these words, but Southern New Hampshire will soon have its own vaulted dome to delight children and adults alike, as they will soon be able to practice their favorite sports indoors.

Under the direction of local youth sports fans Joel Hatin and Frank Bizzarro, the concept of an indoor sports dome, originally researched in 2012, will soon be implemented as a state-of-the-art elite lawn complex on Benton Road in Hooksett.

The facility is an air-assisted structure with a translucent roof (allowing natural light in) over a 350 by 230 foot lawn with a maximum ceiling height of 72 feet in the center. The field can be split in half, providing two soccer fields for 9v9 games or one full size 11v11 field. The lawn will be designed for multiple sports to support programs such as men’s and women’s lacrosse, field hockey, soccer, flag soccer, baseball, softball, and more.

The New Hampshire SportsDome is heated and insulated for winter use and air conditioned for summer play. As the term “air-assisted” suggests, the structure is held in place by air pressure, which is maintained by a high-tech system of fans and controls.

Regional engineering firm TFMoran, Inc. was hired to provide local and state licensing services, construction and transportation engineering, land surveying, landscape architecture, and site management for the new SportsDome. Construction was led by general contractor Severino Trucking Co., Inc. using the air-filled structure provided by The Farley Group.

“As expected, proposing a unique structure in New Hampshire was not without unique hurdles,” said Nicholas Golon, Principal of TFMoran, PE. “Given its size, it was challenging to position the structure to minimize sightlines from neighboring properties, maintain the necessary setbacks and provide the necessary utility infrastructure. Another important element was clearing snow to ensure that there was no risk of damage to the structure from snowfall. Site classification and drainage have been carefully designed so that snow and melt snow can be safely and efficiently carried away from the structure and surrounding parking lots through an open drainage system of swallows and infiltration basins.

“Fortunately, the design and construction team had an incredibly dedicated workforce who carefully considered all of the options to make this project a reality,” concluded Golon. “It was a real team effort!”