largest air-supported structure in North America

Churches are serving their community in very creative ways. Some are doing this by establishing facilities called a "third place" as a meeting place for "[people who] are attracted to a nonreligious venue for coffee, lunch, play dates, workouts or concerts— where followers of Christ are also hanging out. This concept was featured in a recent Leadership Network article called "Third Place Goes to Church".

In the largest state of the United States, there is now The Alaska Dome, the largest air-suppored structure of its kind anywhere in North America. This is a state-of-the-art indoor facilities for sports activities of all kinds, including soccer, baseball, and football, as well as track & field events like high jump and pole vault, and distance running around its 6-lane 400-meter indoor track. This place is BIG -- the Dome is 601 feet long by 290 feet wide and 87.5 feet tall.

As amazing as the facilities are, the story behind the Alaska Dome is even more amazing, as this Peninsula Clarion article, Dome-field advantage, describes:

It was the 2002 brainchild of Gene Desjarlais, a 51-year old Anchorage subcontractor and member of ChangePoint, a 5,000-member nondenominational Christian church in Anchorage.

"My daughters were playing quite a few different sports, soccer and basketball, and I went to basketball practice ... and they didn't have gym space," Desjarlais said, adding that soccer teams also were using the gym. "To get the soccer teams on a turf field, not only does it help the soccer teams because they're playing on the correct surface, it will open up the gym space for basketball and volleyball. The correct sports were inside on a gym floor."

... "ChangePoint guaranteed the funds, guaranteed the capital," said Doug Ketterer, general manager of The Dome, which is managed by ChangePoint. "I believe the money for the building of The Dome came from bonds, and investors invested in those."

This Audio Slide Show from the New York Times really tells the compelling back story of the Alaska Dome >>

This New York Times article, Megachurches Add Local Economy to Their Mission, reveals more about the role of ChangePoint in building the Alaska Dome:

The entrepreneur behind these businesses is the ChangePoint ministry, a 4,000-member nondenominational Christian congregation that helped develop and finance the sports dome.

... ChangePoint paid $1 million upfront and borrowed $23.5 million from a state economic development agency to buy a defunct seafood-packaging plant and warehouse out of foreclosure in July 2005.

And, from ChangePoint ministry's web page about community partnerships, "The Alaska Dome [was completed] in the Fall of 2007, with over 175,000 square feet of track and field nirvana. [The] state-of-the-art turf field and adjustable netting system can be configured to host a variety of field athletics: up to 3 soccer games simultaneously, two softball games, or one full length football field. As for other turf events like ultimate Frisbee or flag football, the options are endless. The Dome is also home to the only 400-meter indoor track in the United States. ..."

Know of another exciting Third Place venues that's been developed or being developed? How would a Third Place better serve the needs in your community?

p.s. also see related article about the Bridge, largest Christian entertainment complex for teens, and this Anchorage Daily News article, Church as community partner: Leaders of nondenominational ChangePoint work to share God's vision, congregation's generosity, with Anchorage

-- DJ Chuang, Leadership Community Director @ Leadership Network