HUB celebrates 1 million visitors on Saturday

On Saturday, ParaSport Spokane will fill the HUB Sports Center in Liberty Lake with able-bodied basketball players for a charity 3-on-3 tournament, and one of the participants will very likely be the millionth visitor to The HUB.

“We will pick someone early in the day,” said HUB manager Phil Champlin. “Probably some time between 8:30 and 9:30 in the morning.”

The 66,000-square-foot facility reopened as a nonprofit in 2007 and for the past five years the organization has been paying its own bills.

“We are doing quite well,” Champlin said, sitting in the upstairs office where the walls are covered with full calendars from this and previous years. “A solid financial foundation has allowed us to do more outreach programs,” and to keep prices relatively low.

On Monday afternoon, a drop-in pickleball session was underway. Seniors – those over 50 – may play for just $2.

The facility holds five full basketball courts but can be set up for any sport from table tennis to futsal, karate, basketball and volleyball.

On a particularly busy day Champlin said the facility had basketball, volleyball, soccer, football, karate and table tennis going on at the same time.

“It can get a little intense,” he said.

Local schools use the facility for everything from winter golf practice to football, and among outreach programs are winter sessions, especially for day care centers.

“If the weather is bad then the kids get kind of cooped up in the winter,” Champlin said. “They come over here and work the wiggles out.”

The HUB was used for one day care center’s Christmas recital.

“Yes, we’d host a wedding reception, anything is possible here,” Champlin said.

Close to 180,000 people visit the HUB every year and winter is by far the busiest season.

Saturday’s millionth patron can expect to be celebrated with balloons and streamers – but not with confetti.

“I don’t want to have to clean that up,” Champlin said.