Smithtown approves bubble dome for $92 million Kings Park sports complex

Smithtown’s approval of a 28,000-square-foot bubble dome for Destination KP pushed the $92 million Kings Park complex one step closer to becoming a year-round sports site, not just a seasonal field complex. The June 9 vote also cleared other modifications, underscoring how the project at 350 Old Northport Road is still being refined as it moves toward opening.

For local families, youth leagues and tournament organizers, the dome is the part that changes the facility’s day-to-day value. It would allow indoor play when weather turns bad or when the outdoor fields are already booked, extending the use of a property that is expected to serve both Kings Park and the wider region. For nearby residents, though, the same expansion raises familiar questions about traffic, noise, lighting and whether the finished site will fit comfortably into the neighborhood around Old Northport Road.

Destination KP has been described as a premier youth sports and events complex on about 44 acres, with an original plan that included seven outdoor athletic fields, two outdoor practice fields, a 64,800-square-foot multi-floor indoor sports facility, a concession building, retail space, a health club and 100,000 square feet of medical and commercial office space focused on sports medicine. Earlier marketing material described a slightly different version of the project, with up to ten outdoor playing fields, two practice fields, a roughly 70,900-square-foot indoor sports and recreation facility and a 50,000-square-foot office building, showing how the site has evolved as approvals have advanced.

The official groundbreaking took place on Dec. 12, 2024, with town officials, developer Prospect Sports Partners LLC and operator Agape Community Sports Services, or ACSS, Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to developing, maintaining and operating recreational sports facilities for the public. At that ceremony, officials described the project as a “premier destination” for tournaments, championships and recreational activities, while Supervisor Edward R. Wehrheim tied it to broader changes along the Old Northport Road corridor.

That corridor, Wehrheim has said, has also seen an early education academy, a solar farm, the Flynn Memorial Ballpark complex and a new Starbucks under construction at Indian Head and Old Northport roads. Destination KP’s promoters say the site’s location, about two miles from the Kings Park LIRR station and within reach of the Long Island Expressway, Northern State Parkway and Sagtikos Parkway, makes it attractive for sports tourism. A Suffolk County Industrial Development Agency-related market analysis said the broader project could create more than 100 full-time jobs, but the Town of Smithtown Planning Department and Town Board will still have to keep watching how the complex grows before opening day.