There's a huge, airy building in Manheim.
Used to be the Manheim Tennis Club.
Then it became headquarters for the Clair Brothers, sound men to the musical stars.
More recently it's been a warehouse for a printing company.
Marc Schoenfelt looked at the inside of the place, three years ago, and saw baseball.
That's what Schoenfelt sees in most everything.
"I am passionate about it," he said Wednesday, and from the passion has come B2B Baseball, Schoenfelt's business, which consists of conducting clinics and camps and doing speaking engagements on baseball fundamentals.
He did upward of 70 clinics in the first half of this year, and has traveled as far as Canada to spread the gospel. There is also a book, DVD and Web site,
b2bbaseball.com.
Now there's the huge, airy building in Manheim, which will become the B2B Baseball/Softball Academy.
It is an interesting building, with high, soaring ceilings and a number of unusual rooms and interior decks.
Schoenfelt pictures 11 batting cages, including one with the Pro Batter System, which includes a video image of an actual pitcher delivering to a "release point" on the screen. It can be set to deliver about any pitch to any location at any speed.
Another large portion of the space will be given over to pitching, with a series of mounds and a training facility.
A third, and largest, portion of the building will contain an entire, full-size baseball diamond with a dirt infield, 90-foot basepaths, etc.
"We're hoping to bring in the three major segments of baseball: hitting, pitching and a game setting," Schoenfelt said.
Not only that, but because of the size and layout of the place, all three segments can be in action at the same time, with no moving of nets or partitions. It is a big place, bigger-looking on the inside than out.
In addition to all of the above, there will be parents' lounges, kids' lounges, birthday-party spaces, offices, a speed-training and conditioning area, a T-ball space and a video-analysis room (in a space soundproofed, years ago, by Clair Brothers).
The whole thing will be artificial-turfed, engineered and built by ProMounds Inc., a Brockton, Mass, outfit that has done projects of this type all over the country.
As nearly as Schoenfelt and the ProMounds folks can figure, it'll be the largest indoor baseball-softball-only facility on Earth.
"This is going to be fun," Schoenfelt said.
He foresees private lessons, clinics, offseason, team-camp-style training and even leagues taking place there.
He does not foresee a coin-operated quasi-arcade.
"This will be for people trying to improve their game, or just trying to enjoy the game," Schoenfelt said. "And it will be all about baseball [and softball]."
The batting cages will be open to the public, but you'll rent time in them. You'll be able to do that ahead of time on the Web site, sort of like reserving a tee time in golf.
Schoenfelt thinks big. He can't get in the building until White Oak Printing vacates it Sept. 1. He plans to open on October.
"The ProMounds people are saying it can be done, and they're the experts," he said. "We're having them do the work so it gets done right."
He plans a grand opening at which major leaguers will appear. Bob Robertson, the 1970s Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman and a Schoenfelt fan, is already in.
Schoenfelt runs the Lancaster Barnstormers' baseball camps. He said he's been talking to Keystone Baseball, which owns the Lancaster Barnstormers, about conducting spring training at the facility for the Barnstormers and the three other Atlantic League clubs it owns.
"It'd be a money-saver for them," he said. "And it could be open to the public and the media. They could do their fan fests here. It could be a win-win."
Schoenfelt, who is a schoolteacher in addition to running the baseball business, has a silent financial partner in the facility. But he is the majority owner.
"I am excited about it," he said. "If you talk to me in a couple months, I might say it's driving me crazy. But if you talk to me in a year, I might say it's the best thing that's ever happened to me."
Mike Gross is a Sunday News sports writer. E-mail him at mgross@lnpnews.com.
