The Student Activities Complex that Socoro (Texas) Independent School District cut the ribbon on last week had a special meaning for many, particularly SISD Director of Athletics James Nunn.
Nunn was a football player at Montwood in 1992 when the Rams opened the SAC 1, right next to the new complex, in 1992 against Socorro High.
"It's come full circle," Nunn said. "The original SAC will always br special to me and now we have this new complex, which is beautiful and will be something for all of our district to enjoy and have pride in."
The new complex was built as part of the voter-approved Bond 2017 program and will allow the district to host more games to better serve the students of SISD and the community.
The highly anticipated new venue features an athletic field, concession areas, locker rooms, fine arts offices, instrument repair shop, music storage, and conference rooms. SAC II will provide endless opportunities for students in athletics, fine arts, CTE programs and more to expand their learning and enrichment experiences. [KFOX 14]
Hundreds of acres of soil and cropland sit unclaimed around the main road through Muleshoe, Texas, where there is one pharmacy and two grocery stores and two main banks.
The land is cheaper, and there are swaths of it, near Lincoln Riley’s small hometown. A couple of miles northwest of the city center, you could buy a plot of about 160 acres for just over $350,000. Travel a few miles further south, and you could snap up 174 acres of dirt and cornfield for about $300,000. And there are no big-time FBS schools within close shouting distance of Muleshoe, but open acres are plentiful in the South; if you were a blue-blood football program seeking to build a new facility somewhere, as Riley put it, it would be easy to simply buy up a cornfield.
“Here, as we all know,” Riley told reporters on USC’s practice field on Friday morning, “our cornfields cost a little bit more.”
Precisely, it will cost $200 million, as USC athletic director Jen Cohen pinpointed in a Friday State of Troy address to the university community, to construct the new and long-planned Football Operations and Performance Center, which will be constructed on a plot that will rip up one of the old stretches of grass at Howard Jones Field. And Riley beamed when asked about it Friday, reflecting back on the first day he strolled through those doors at Howard Jones three years ago, a football program in need of an overhaul both cultural and cosmetic. [Press Telegram]
USC’s concept art of the new facilities for the Football Performance Center:
— Trojan Football ✌️fan (@TrojanFBx) August 2, 2024
The facility is a 3 leveled, open-air deck style.
Will include:
New locker rooms
Multiple player lounges
Recovery hub
Nutrition support
Support Science Services
Weight room
Training room.… pic.twitter.com/ptrylp5Csp
A groundbreaking ceremony for construction of an athletic complex at Newport Central Catholic High School is scheduled for Aug. 9, but the exact cost of the project might not be revealed until that day.
“Right now, we’re awaiting on bids from general contractors,” said NewCath principal Kenny Collopy. “We budgeted it for our fundraising at $7.8 million so we’re thinking it’s going to be right there in that ball park.”
The athletic complex will include a synthetic turf playing field for football and soccer with lighting.
A six-lane track will encircle the field with an area for field events. A building at the main entrance of the complex will include locker rooms, public restrooms and a press box. [North Kentucky Tribune]
To subscribe to the free daily e-newsletter offering the latest industry news, products and insights from — and written for — the athletics, fitness and recreation industries, see below on this page, or click here
