.bodytext {float: left; } .floatimg-left-hort { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right: 10px; width:300px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 10px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} More than 20 years ago, when he was a high school sophomore, David Charleston dreamed of someday starting a business that would allow him to spend every day on the basketball court.

“I always thought basketball was a non-intimidating way of bringing people together,” said Charleston, who is launching The Orange Planet in Pleasant Hill. The planned 30,000-square-foot fitness facility will be built in the Metro Business Park at the Pleasant Hill exit off U.S. Highway 65. The center will offer academy-style basketball instruction for school-age kids as well as basketball and fitness programs for adults and seniors.

Plans for the $2 million complex include three full basketball courts – two of them traditional wood courts – plus a half-size “jam ball” court with lower hoops for dunking, with a wireless-equipped courtside café, spectator seating and classrooms. The building also will encompass a 6,500-square-foot fitness center with weights and cardiovascular equipment, locker rooms and a child-care center for members.

The Orange Planet will complement steps Pleasant Hill has taken to enhance its public recreational assets, said Rita Conner, the city’s community services director. The city council has already approved a three-year, 100 percent tax abatement for the project, a step beyond the usual five-year graduated abatement. “(The council) felt this project provided important recreational opportunities for our community,” Conner said.

The city recently approved plans for an 80-acre youth sports complex that will include eight softball fields, four soccer fields, trails and other amenities. “We’re excited about the amenities the city is offering, and about the private sector becoming involved in that message as well,” Conner said.

The city council is scheduled to consider The Orange Planet’s site plan on Tuesday. Charleston said he hopes crews can begin moving dirt within the next couple of months.

As its name implies, The Orange Planet will be devoted to basketball.

“I have a passion to see kids return to learning the game instead of worrying about competition and uniforms,” said Charleston, who as a middle-school teacher coached basketball for 10 years. “We’re going to have competition, but we’re going to teach basketball. Second, we’re going to teach coaches, because they’re the ones who are teaching the kids.”

Charleston said coaches from a number of schools on Des Moines’ East Side have already expressed interest about accessing The Orange Planet’s facilities. “They’re really starving for something that’s student- and family-focused,” he said.

Charleston and his wife, Rhonda, owned New Image Family Fitness Center in Des Moines for a couple of years before selling that business. Most recently, they owned and operated a cabin resort in South Carolina before returning to Iowa two years ago to develop The Orange Planet.

The club’s membership fees will be “competitive with any other health club, and in fact, it will probably be on the lower end,” he said.

Charleston said he also plans to provide programs for special-needs and at-risk students, as well as girls’ six-on-six teams, all the way up to a “vintage league” for seniors 55 and older.

“If you can think of it, we’re going to have it,” he said.

Fitness training will be another aspect of the center. Tim Ives, a fitness trainer who offers individualized classes from his Beaverdale home, will move his business, The Body Project, to The Orange Planet when it opens.

“Much of what I do is coaching athletes and training, so this will be a good way for me to expand what I’m doing,” said Ives, who will lease space and also help promote the facility. His current clients are primarily middle-aged adults who want to stay in shape.

“With a larger facility, I can do group training,” he said. “With a home studio, I was limited to one or two at a time. Now we’ll be able to do groups of 10 or more.”

Wellness aspects of both programs will be overseen by a physician, Dr. Michael Hurt, a Des Moines anesthesiologist. “He’s a great guy who has a passion for the East Side, a passion for wellness, and he’s a huge basketball nut,” Charleston said.

Another element of The Orange Planet will be an affiliated nonprofit organization called Hope2Offer Student Services, which will provide after-school tutoring, counseling and programs addressing problems such as teen obesity.

“Hope2Offer came as a dream of mine after spending 10 years in education,” Charleston said. “I found that kids struggle academically, they struggle to feel good about themselves, and I found that they struggle with a lot of daunting issues; they just don’t know who to talk to. The bottom line is, we’re going to have an outlet where kids can come after school and talk to a life coach.”

Charleston said he plans to create a program in which individual donors and businesses will subsidize the cost so that children or their families won’t incur the full cost of the services.

Additionally, The Orange Planet will host community events and speakers on a regular basis. “We want to be a place of inspiration,” he said.