Sports dome project a no-go in Dover
Developer still has plans to build facility in region
![Brent Edmunds, director of baseball operations and pitching coordinator for the USA Training Centers, right, and Lynette Aucoin, who handles marketing for the firm, stand in a field at 45 Littleworth Road in Dover last summer. A developer has sought to build an inflatable sports dome on the land but recently pulled the project. [Deb Cram/Fosters.com, file]](/gcdn/authoring/2019/06/05/NFDD/ghows-FD-8a986442-03f5-0ea0-e053-0100007fda1f-7f694fe1.jpeg?width=660&height=440&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp)
DOVER — The sports dome project that was planned for Littleworth Road is no longer in the works, though the developer still plans to build nearby Dover but outside city limits.
The developer, Queen City Holdings LLC, had sought a height variance from the city Zoning Board of Adjustment to build a 72-foot tall inflatable dome at 45 Littleworth Road in Dover. But the plan never got in front of the ZBA, which was initially scheduled for the April meeting but was pulled beforehand.
The height wasn’t what caused the project's demise. Instead, it was city code that required a sprinkler system. Dover Fire Chief Eric Hagman, who oversees the city’s inspection office, previously told Foster’s the city code requires a fire sprinkler system for a building designed to hold 100 people or more. Hagman noted the city code was more stringent than the state fire code, which would allow such a structure.
David A. Moore of Queen City Holdings said Wednesday he was confident a dome will be built in the area. He noted a sports dome in Hooksett, which initially was denied, was subsequently approved and work to construct it will begin this month. Moore said he is also working on another dome project in Salem.
Moore said there are still plans to develop its Littleworth Road parcel, but he wouldn’t say whether a future project will be sports related.
The land on Littleworth Road was rezoned from residential to industrial in 2017 amid outcry from abutters after Dave Hoyt of USA Training Centers had sought to build a sports complex there that would include a baseball field for the Seacoast Mavericks summer collegiate baseball team. Last July, Hot Corner Productions LLC purchased a 75-acre parcel at 45 Littleworth Road land for $2.4 million from Richard and Anna Kay. USA Training Centers has since dissolved the Mavericks franchise though it continues its youth baseball program.
Lynette Aucoin, a spokesperson for USA Training Centers, told Foster’s last month they “still a hope to build a home field for our program” on the Littleworth Road property. “The fact still remains that there is a shortage of playing fields available in the greater Seacoast area.”