The Nuxhall Foundation is set to break ground Saturday morning, Nov. 7, 2026, on the Joe Nuxhall Hope Center, a year-round indoor facility in Fairfield designed to give athletes with physical and developmental disabilities a home base they've never had. The 11 a.m. ceremony is scheduled for the site on Groh Road, right next to the Joe Nuxhall Miracle League Fields, and will mark the start of a project organizers have been building toward for years.
Groundbreaking for the Hope Center was set for 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 7, according to the Journal-News, which reports the center will sit on a 3.45-acre site adjacent to the existing Miracle League fields. The facility is meant to fill a gap for local athletes who need year-round recreational space. As FOX19 has reported, the Miracle League's current fields are accessible but outdoors only, while Butler County Special Olympics families also use gyms.
What's Planned Inside the New Facility
The center will be built for athletes with physical and developmental disabilities, according to the Cincinnati Business Courier, which described it as a year-round, indoor recreational facility. Plans call for a multi-sports arena that will also serve as the permanent home for the Butler County Special Olympics, according to WKRC / Local 12.
The same report notes the design includes a recreation room featuring a wheelchair zip line, along with a community room for wellness programming and dedicated therapy suites. Published accounts differ on the building's exact footprint: the Journal-News and Local 12 both describe a 32,000-square-foot center, while the Nuxhall Miracle League's own virtual tour page puts the figure at 31,000 square feet.
Fundraising Still Short by Millions
The project carries a $12 million fundraising goal, split between $10 million for construction and $2 million set aside for a maintenance fund, per the Journal-News. More than $7.2 million has been raised so far toward that total, the outlet reports — leaving a substantial gap even as shovels go into the ground.
Local12 puts that remaining need at almost $5 million still required to complete the project. The fundraising climb has been underway for years: back in 2024, the foundation told the Cincinnati Enquirer it had raised about $2.6 million and expected to need another $8 million or $9 million to get the center built, a figure that has since evolved as the campaign progressed.
Construction Timeline and Community Support
Construction on the single-story facility is set to begin late next spring, with a tentative opening targeted for late spring or summer 2028, the Journal-News reports. That puts roughly seven months between Saturday's groundbreaking and the start of actual building work, giving the foundation a runway to continue closing its funding gap.
Community backing for the broader Nuxhall Miracle League effort stretches back further than the Hope Center campaign itself. In 2022, the Butler County Board of Developmental Disabilities committed $50,000 to the Nuxhall Foundation for a sports facility, according to the Journal-News — an early show of local investment in the organization's mission to serve athletes with special needs across Butler County.
