Paintball Articles/News

Appleton/Fox Cites Paintball

Paintball in the Fox Cities and Appleton has been challenged over the years with paintball related businesses not being able to stay open or not getting off the ground all together. Wolfpack Paintball Teams opened their online affiliate store to the public in November of 2006. Now with a growing selection of paintball products from a reliable retailer, Wolfpack can offer the Fox Cities something its been missing. A physical location is in the works to stock and sell the products in Neenah.

Neenah's Council Tree

Matt's House, the most recently affected paintball business, shut down when the Valley Fair mall closed it's doors and tore down buildings surrounding the complex. Matt's house tried reopening in an old Piggly Wiggly grocery store just to find the heating units didn't work and needed 30,000 dollars in replacement costs. Matt's House is still searching for a facility to move into.
In 2004, a failed plan by the city of Appleton to build an outdoor field on an abandoned area North of town by Mackville on Quarry Road was stopped when planners 'lost steam' to complete the project. The outdoor field was a brain child of an Appleton City Council member. Although local paintballer's rallied to its cause, the plan never got beyond talk.
In 2005, an effort by two area paintball players went bust after having their location condemned by the EPA for a leaking septic system and required an estimated 50,000 dollar replacement and clean up cost. The field would have offered indoor and outdoor play, plus a large retail store. It was planned for the West side of Neenah. The business plan is still approved by a bank for finance but no new location has been found to suit the needs outlined in the plan.
Appleton and surrounding area paintballers are still hoping for an indoor or outdoor field within a short drive. The closest reliable field is Outdoor Adventures in Fremont(West of Appleton) or Commando Sports in Abrams(North of Green Bay). Both fields offer excellent game play for both speedballers and woodsballers alike. Neither location offers significant retail paintball product sales at this time though.

(Redwood 11/30/06)