Suspected arson causes Bluegrass Sportsplex to cancel games

Games were put on hold Sunday after a small fire at The Bluegrass Sportsplex in Elizabethtown forced a stoppage in play.

A call came into Elizabethtown police around 2:35 p.m. Sunday, police spokesman Chris Denham said.

“The damage is in a bathroom and the business did have to close as a result,” he said. “A suspect who is a juvenile is in custody and is facing charges of arson in the first degree.”

The fire was set and contained in the women’s restroom, sportsplex general manager Dustin Shepherd said.

“It was minor damage just to a shower area back there,” he said. “We’re very blessed it was in that small, contained area.”

During the fire, the building was evacuated safely, Shepherd said.

“No one was injured, so that’s the biggest thing,” he said. “We can replace a shower. It’s just material at that point.”

The fire disrupted youth indoor soccer games, an adult recreational volleyball league tournament and birthday parties and other private rentals, Shepherd said.

According to a social media post from the sportsplex, soccer and volleyball games being played Sunday will be rescheduled.

“We shut down because it was unsafe for the occupants to be located in our building without a proper fire protection system that was active at that time,” he said.

Shepherd said the sportsplex hopes to return to play tomorrow.

“We have a company en route actually right now to reset all of that,” he said. “We will be updating all our social media when we get all of that updated.”