The Summit Sports and Ice Complex in Diamondale was mid-Michigan's spot for sports tournaments, athletic leagues and trade shows for 22 years.
It will not be reopening.
“The decision to discontinue operations permanently is the direct result of being shut down by the State of Michigan for much of the last 11 months due to the coronavirus pandemic," General Manager Paige Sauer wrote in a press release Friday. "The inability to have athletes and teams use our facilities for such an extended period of time made it impossible for us to continue financially.”
People like Steve Horn made memories at The Summit.
“It was one of my favorite things to do on a Friday night," Horn said. "Go there, play co-ed soccer, friends and go to meet new people.”
Horn said he grew up playing soccer there and, in recent years, had been using the facility to coach several soccer teams including Williamston High School's varsity teams.
“It’s been consistently one of the spaces in the Lansing area that you can go to for soccer," Horn said. "There's no walls, it's big enough, but not too big."
Bryon Hough, president of Capital City Flips, purchased Twistars Gymnastics Club, which operated out of The Summit, on Dec. 31,
He said he found out about The Summit closing a few weeks ago from a parent whose child had been part of Twistars.
"He said, 'Hey, did you know the summit was sold?'”
Nothing was made official by management until after he received that message.
“A couple weeks later they did confirm that yes, it is being closed, the sports facility is and the building had been sold,” Hough said.
Sauer declined to say if the building has been sold.
Hough and Horn are now looking for new spaces.
"The previous owner of the Summit has apologized for the lack of communication and has offered to try and find me a facility or build a facility or help as well. So, we're working on all options," Hough said.
But he'll take the memories with him.
“My son actually, his very first time ice skating was there," he said. "I can still envision my daughter. She’s 7 now, but when she first started playing soccer she had the little pigtails going, the pink soccer socks, the pink shirt and the black shorts. I can still remember her running around there and just the joy she had on the soccer field.”
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