HOBART | Members of the Board of Zoning Appeals and Plan Commission will decide next month whether to approve proposed inflatable soccer domes.

The Board of Zoning Appeals would have to decide if the project was an acceptable fit for the area and the Plan Commission would have to approve a site plan.

Attorney Dave Austgen said the plan is to add up to four inflatable domes on the Soccerville USA property at the northwest corner of 84th Place and Colorado Street. He said the plan would allow the group to add extra soccer, volleyball and possibly softball facilities.

The main dome would be about 60,000 square feet, with up to three smaller domes at 12,000 square feet, each.

Councilman Tom Ehrhardt, R-1, represents the district in which the facilities would be built. He said the additional practice area would fit in nicely with the neighborhood, but said he had reservations about the type of structure proposed. Although the inflatable structures would be built on concrete pads and could be landscaped, Ehrhardt said the buildings themselves wouldn't be an enhancement to the area.

"I can't think of a more welcome use," he said. "But I'd like to see a more substantial structure."

Austgen said the group planned to invest about $750,000 in the area, excluding the cost of the land. Creating a more permanent structure could cost up to five times as much.