Batting cages, indoor youth sports facility envisioned - Combining entrepreneurship and sports, work to begin on Barry’s Clubhouse

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

Charles City’s Tad Barry is hoping to turn a lifetime love of local sports into a successful hometown business.

“That’s my easy way to connect with people, is through sports,” Barry said. “The lessons I learned in sports have carried over into my life, that’s for sure.”

Tad and his wife, Cari, will see preliminary construction begin in the coming days for Barry’s Clubhouse, which will be located next to Schueth Ace Hardware at 300 Gilbert St. in Charles City.

Barry said that to start off, the venue will have batting cages and an indoor baseball facility. He said he has ambitions to expand well beyond that, although he is going to take it slow — one step at a time.

Plans include tumbling, dodgeball, after-school programs, floor hockey and other organized youth activities, Barry said.

“It’s just an idea I had,” he said. “I wanted to find a way to involve athletics and kids as a full-time job, because it’s what I know.”

Barry said the best-case scenario would be to have Barry’s Clubhouse open by the end of the year, and he thought at the latest it will be open by next spring.

“There is a lot of uncertainty out there right now,” Barry said. “I wanted to make sure I had all my ducks in a row.”

Barry received a $25,000 loan from the Charles City Area Development Corp. revolving loan fund, and estimated the initial start-up costs of the business will be around $150,000. He is also working with First Citizens Bank locally for a small business loan.

“This is going to be what the mayor said the kids wanted, which is a place to do batting and tumbling and gymnastics and trampolining and that kind of stuff,” said Tim Fox at a recent CCADC meeting. “Individualized instruction in those disciplines. Tad’s put a lot of work into it. He has a lot of projections.”

Barry said he has spent the better part of the last five years or so determining how much capital he would need to get started and devising a business strategy.

“I made a lot of phone calls and got a lot of advice,” he said. “I had a natural mentor in my dad, who has owned a business for 30 years now. I leaned on him for advice.”

Barry’s father, Mark, and Mark’s sister, Peggy Sweet, co-own and operate the Comet Bowl in Charles City.

Barry will be leasing the space for Barry’s Clubhouse from Jackie Perkins and Doug Schueth, owners of Schueth Ace Hardware.

“They’ve been easy to work with and very accommodating,” Barry said. He also said he appreciated the Lions Club — which has been using the building for its annual book sale in recent years — for moving out of the space so quickly.

Barry said the spot is ideal for what he wants to do, because it has high ceilings and more than 7,000 square feet of open space — big enough to be used for multiple purposes. He promised that people will be seeing a lot of activity at the location in the coming days and weeks.

Initially, Barry said he will need to set up a permanent fire wall between the space and the hardware store. Then the work will focus on plumbing for restrooms, and basic electrical work to separate the two entities.

Barry has worked for both KCHA radio and for the Charles City Press in sales and marketing, and said he’s pleased to have the opportunity to run his own business in his hometown.

“You keep hearing about people moving out of town, but I’m not going anywhere,” he said. “I figured I better do something about it.”

He said he’s learned patience since he’s started this endeavor, and he’s hopeful the community will be patient with him as he gets further along.

“It’s not going to be immediate, we’ll take baby steps,” he said. “I want to make sure I know what I’m doing before I get too overwhelmed.”