INDIAN TRAIL -- It’s not just a gym.

That’s what the mayor says, what neighboring business say, and what Carolina Courts President Ron Esser wants road planners to remember as they recommend the route for the Monroe Parkway.

Right now, the preferred route would plow straight through the new basketball center, one of two family sports complexes that anchor Indian Trail’s family entertainment corridor.

“It certainly would hurt the town in regard to this image that we were building as a youth sports center,” Mayor John Quinn said. For a town like Indian Trail to be vibrant, it takes “people caring and focusing on youth.”

If the N.C. Turnpike Authority stays with the proposed route, it would take a swath out of Carolina Courts, forcing the basketball and volleyball gym to find a new location, and take ancillary businesses with it.

“It was shocking with everybody that we would lose Carolina Courts,” said Maureen Mulhall, general manager of the Extreme Ice Center, located minutes from Carolina Courts.

Mulhall said the parkway route would likely benefit the ice center because an exit is proposed nearby, but she said that losing Carolina Courts could hurt Extreme Ice because parents might have to choose one over the other. While each center offers athletic outlets, the sports they provide are different. Because of their proximity to each other, parents of children with diverse interests can say “yes” to a wider variety of hobbies.

Esser said he would like to stay in town if possible.

“It’s really grown into a place where people from the commu-

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nity are wanting to be there,” he said.

He would not tip his hand on the preferred relocation spots, but said he would like to stay in Indian Trail.

“We live here, we love the community feel,” he said, but added that he needs to do “what’s best for the long-term viability for Carolina Courts.”

Combined with other places to play sports, join clubs or participate in hobbies, Indian Trail is set up to attract young families, said Quinn.

“Between these businesses, your family would never have to leave Indian Trail,” Mulhall said. She compared 21st-century Indian Trail to American life in the 1950s when communities offered everything a family would want.

Quinn feared that atmosphere could be dampened if Carolina Courts moved.

The gym has been in Indian Trail for about a year, and Esser said he really felt the community impact during the Fourth of July parade. Esser said people in the crowd were waving to him and shouting out appreciation for the gym. “It gave us a sense of being part of the community,” Esser said. “It’s one of the rewarding things.”

If Carolina Courts moves, that might change.

“I hope they stay,” Quinn said. “It’s such a successful venture.”

The Monroe Parkway is touted as a road that will bring jobs, especially in eastern Union County, but it could have the opposite effect in Indian Trail, Quinn pointed to the outlying economy that could suffer if the gym moved out of town.

Esser said the gym hosted 20 tournaments in the past year and has plans for 30 in 2010. Each tournament brings about 1,000 people, most from out of town. For surrounding hotels, restaurants and other businesses, that translates to 1,000 more potential patrons.

“I think we have had a pretty good local impact,” Esser said.

The Turnpike Authority plans to announce the final route next spring.