Curtis Symonds has wanted to do this for the last ten years, at least. Realistically, it's been much longer than that.

"My mother instilled in me at a very young age, and reinforced continually, the importance of giving back to the community," says Symonds as we sit his offices. "I hope, and earnestly believe, that what we are doing here will give the community at large, from kids to adults, a place to call their own, a place that will help them grow, individually and as a community."

Here is Chantilly, Virginia, just fifteen miles down Route 50 from Middleburg, and this is the newly opened Hoops Magic Sports Academy, a sprawling 65,000 square foot recreational facility, complete with seven all-wood basketball courts (six of which are high-school dimensions and one of which is college dimensions) which can be transformed in an instant into volleyball courts, practice space for football, baseball, lacrosse and wrestling, a fully padded running track, weight-lifting equipment and probably the cleanest locker-rooms these eyes have ever seen.

Events

Before the facility's grand opening this past April 1, Symonds also hosted the local Boys and Girls Club for a semi-formal event and dinner; out went the basketball courts, in came the protective carpeting, dining tables and chairs, and voila, the "basketball" facility had been transformed into a perfectly serviceable event space.

"This is probably my favorite room," Symonds says as we walk down a light-flooded hallway, past rows of sparklingly maintained exercise equipment. He opens a door, flips on the light switch, and we find ourselves in a sprawling room filled with laptop computers, A/V equipment and newly refurbished office chairs and desks along three of the four walls.

"It's our Education Room," he says, and you can hear the capitol E and capital R in his voice. "Right now, people come here for the basketball and the sports facilities, which is wonderful; helping young people build their bodies is important when they are growing up. But even more important is helping them build their minds, giving them a place to learn, to share their thoughts and feelings with each other, to build their confidence and sense of self, giving them a place that is their own, where they feel safe and where they want to go. That is what's so important, and what I'm really excited about."

The Education Room operates as a separate not-for-profit facility within the larger building and Symonds has tapped into vast network of connections, amassed over nearly thirty years working in the cable and entertainment industry, securing contributions to make the Room a reality from the likes of Northrop-Gruman, Cox Communications, and ESPN. Other partners and backers in the facility include Access Bank, Intermediate Partners in New York City, and Fairfax County itself; the Summer of Service & Fun Program brings community children to the Hoops Magic facility for a combination of sports and community activities.

Symonds, whose other day job is COO of the Washington Mystics, arrives at Hoops Magic by 8 a.m. most mornings, driving to Chantilly from McLean, where he works until about 11, overseeing the facility's 9 o'clock opening before he heads into Washington by to oversee the Mystics' basketball operations for the rest of the day, and then makes his way back to Chantilly to work for two or three more hours and help close the facility at 9 p.m.

"This is something that I'm completely invested in," he says. "I learned long ago to never be satisfied, to never take anything for granted. I love the work I'm doing here and believe in completely. People will catch me every once in a while washing the floors, or helping move the equipment around and they'll ask me why. And honestly, I enjoy the work, I enjoy contributing in any way I can to making the experience better for our visitors."

The Building, as Symonds likes to call it, offers a range of memberships for the community, ranging from one time, one day, passes to monthly and yearly packages. Word of mouth is one of The Building's best friends, and there is already talk of increasing hours of operation from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Saturday, to 9 a.m. to 11 p.m., Monday through Saturday.

"If you build a quality facility, word will spread and people will come, Symonds says. "My hope is that we will be able to draw visitors from the District and Maryland, as well as the surrounding Northern Virginia area. I'd also very much like to work out some agreements with the area schools to make our facilities available to their students and student-athletes."

Symonds pauses and smiles as he looks around The Building. "Like I said, it's about giving back, and that's what we're really shooting for here."