Multi-sport complex could be on its way to Columbia County

EVANS, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - There could be new developments for parents and kids in Columbia County as the indoor and outdoor multi-sports complex would be a way for community to have a place to practice year-round.

It’s a project that will sit on 22 acres of land just across from Patriots Park.

It could open a whole new world of travel sports and could also have a coffee shop and potentially a daycare.

The developers say the area has been rezoned and they’ve completed the traffic study and land testing, making the next step — funding.

Columbia County is making waves in the sports world, started by Samuel Lilly — a former professional athlete.

And after partnering with John Bojescul, the developer of the project — it’s quickly becoming a reality.

“Lilly has been training folks for over 30 years in this area and has had to move from one place to another and wanted a home base,” Bojescul says.

Making the project — one of a kind for Columbia County, with an aquatics center, an indoor training facility, with a gym, four basketball courts, and an indoor football and soccer field, and space for track and field and cross country.

“It is a competition level type swim pool with 10 lanes. The concept also has a physical therapy pool or a recreational pool which it could double as,” Bojescul explains. “An indoor training facility facilitates the ability to do any of these sports 365 out of the year. It will be able to train pretty much every single sport other than baseball.”

Barbra Lacombe is the CSRA swim league president, and her children swim year-round.

She says sometimes they spend more time on the road than in the water.

“It is 45 minutes down there one way, 45 minutes the next way and it’s dedication,” Lacombe says. “It is very exciting for me to know that I’ll be able to have some more time at home with them and they’ll still be able to get a lot of school stuff done while they’re training.”

Kristen Schlegel is a swim and lacrosse coach for Greenbrier High School, and she says they need more space.

“The amount of growing that we’ve done over the last 10-20 years. We’re due for our own facilities,” Schlegel explains. “We’re scrambling some days just to find a place where we could practice.”

It also offers more opportunities to students who want to play sports.

“Schools like Harlem and Grovetown, they’ve really struggled to maintain a swim team because, parents just aren’t able to make that drive and that commitment,” Schlegel says.

If you’re worried about potential traffic — Bojescul says there’s plans to help ease it.

A traffic signal will go on Columbia Road at the Patriots Park entrance and developers plan to widen the lanes on both sides.

Bojescul says depending on funding they hope to see the project done within the next 2 1/2 to 3 years.

That is not the only project Bojescul is working on.

You can expect to see a new restaurant in Columbia County in less than a year if its development goes right.

The restaurant called Nordhaven Rustic expects to break ground in May.

It will be a stand-alone restaurant serving as a bakery in the day and a seafood and steak restaurant at night.

“Nordhaven Rustic would be Norwegian-Scandinavian themed,” Bojescul says. “Nordhaven means northern harbor and rustic is a hint to the past, so we are trying to bring some past to the future and be a combination of modern and antiques and ancestral.”

The restaurant will be at 406 Town Park Boulevard next to Advanced Pain Management near Taco Sushi.

Chef Justin Hayes Is helping develop the menu.

He is currently the chef at Malia’s Restaurant in Aiken.

Copyright 2025 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.