Glens Falls Chronicle Serving the Glens Falls/Lake George region; Warren, Washington and northern Saratoga counties since 1980
By Ben Westcott, Chronicle Staff Writer
“Afrim’s is in the best position to keep this facility functioning as a sports facility,” Mr. Miller said. “And that’s the important thing for the community.”
Afrim’s Sports Owner Afrim Nezaj said he first met the Millers back when they built the Dome. “I was happy they were building a facility because they were doing something I was doing — giving the Northeast community a chance to play in the winter months, which is something that everyone desires,” he said.
He said Afrim’s started because Mr. Nezaj and his buddies wanted to play soccer during the winter. They managed to rent space in large buildings and put turf on it, and the company grew from there. Now Afrim’s has locations in Albany, Colonie, Latham, Glenmont and Mechanicville.
“I build facilities to keep kids and people playing sports,” Mr. Nezaj said. “And that’s what [the Millers] did. So to me, it’s just a no brainer for us to keep doing what we’re doing. It fits into my mission, which is to grow and improve sports in the Capital District.”
The Millers built the Dome in 2004 after realizing that area kids were having to travel south to practice and play sports.
Doug Miller said he is soon to be 70, as his wife already is. “It’s time for us to move on and transition,” Mr. Miller said.
He said two unfortunate occurrences in 2020 hastened the decision to sell.
First was the COVID-19 pandemic that shut down the facility. Then in December the roof collapsed from 32 inches of snow in a 12 hour span, Mr. Miller said. Replacing the dome cost over $1 million.
“That was like two real significant gut punches in an eight-month period,” Mr. Miller said. “That significantly drained us, emotionally and in every other way.”
He thinks Afrim’s is equipped to handle life in the industry.
“This business is unique,” Mr. Miller said. “You need a particular skill set and particular staff, and there are not many people around the country that have that expertise. We had a number of interested people over the years, and I am certain that within a short period of time they wouldn’t have been successful.”
Mr. Afrim says, “We’re going to keep doing what they’ve been doing, with the goal to sell more hours. Just get more people using the facility. If we can increase the use, that’s the goal. Whether it’s flag football, soccer…we’ll do whatever the community needs and is asking for.”
As to the future, Mr. Nezaj said, “I think this is as much as I can take. I’ve had offers to go out of town, people have tried to sell me places in Syracuse and Connecticut, but it wasn’t for me. I really want to stick to the community.”
Mr. Afrim said, “I think the community should be very thankful for Doug and Teresa having put this building here, and their effort in keeping it here, because they could have sold it to the first person that wanted it or other people that wanted to do other things here. But the fact that they wanted sports — the community should support it a lot.”
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