South Suburban Park's and Recreation's Family Sports Center's golf driving range and short-game area opened on May 6 after being closed since Jan. 8 for renovation. The range, located at 6901 S. Peoria St., received $900,000 worth of improvements funded by South Suburban. Customers will enjoy brand new deep-green artificial FieldTurf interspersed with bright gold target areas with the hitting area expanded from five to seven acres. New hitting mats and practice balls are also part of the upgrades.

The Family Sports Center driving range features a two-tier facility that includes 60 hitting bays, 30 of which are heated, lighted and covered. There is also room for an additional 30 golfers on the adjacent lighted, grass range. Visitors can hit balls until 11 pm all summer long and until 9 pm during cold-weather months.

This unique driving range is on a campus with a family entertainment center that includes an arcade, two ice arenas, a pro shop that serves the needs of both the golf and hockey enthusiast, a restaurant with a superb outdoor deck that overlooks the golf course. The campus also includes a sports dome, and family visitors can play together at the 18-hole mini-golf course.

Although the range is open now, a Grand Re-Opening Celebration will be held on Friday, June 19 from 11 am - 7 pm. There will be a ribbon cutting at 12 pm and attendees will enjoy light refreshments and 50¢ range balls. This celebration is another event in a yearlong series being held to honor South Suburban Parks and Recreation's 50 years of service to the south metropolitan community. For more information about the Grand Re-Opening and South Suburban's 50 th Anniversary events visit www.sspr.org.