A $96 million high school athletics facility in Durham, N.C., is not getting rave reviews, as the parents of athletes and school officials say the venue suffers from significant design flaws and a lack of safety netting.
The new Northern High complex opened in September 2023, but since then community members have complained about inadequate, poorly designed athletic facilities.
Because of the facility's defects, the new field sits empty on varsity lacrosse and soccer game nights. The field lacks safety netting to prevent balls from going in the road.
According to The 9th Street Journal, community members say the undersized field was built too close to the road and includes cramped locker rooms, missing batting cages and more. Residents are frustrated that it’s taking so long to get the athletic facilities into shape years after the school opened.
“It’s obviously new,” Charlie Dickerson, the vice president of Northern’s booster club, said of the new Northern’s athletic facilities. “But I would probably use the word not what the taxpayers paid for.”
David Hackney, Northern's athletics director since 2019, said the district is aware of parents’ concerns.
“We understand and acknowledge the concerns raised by parents,” he told 9th Street. “As a large district managing multiple schools and facilities, we must prioritize needs across the system.
“While some improvements may take time, student safety remains our highest priority, and we are committed to addressing concerns as efficiently as possible.”
While Hackney says the athletics facility meet all state high school association regulations, community members say the design was flawed from the start. Cramped locker rooms, poorly planned fields are just a few of the venue's shortcomings.
The football stadium field house was supposed to be two stories high, with ample locker room space, but that never materialized. Instead, the field house includes three shower stalls and 45 lockers for boys’ junior varsity and varsity football teams that can include over 80 players altogether.
Residents also complain that the design flaws have impacted the school's ability to rent out their facility's, reducing potential revenue generation.
For Dickerson, the new Northern has so many issues that the old school seems appealing by comparison.
“On the surface if you ride by the school, everybody says, ‘Oh, that’s a beautiful place, I bet that school is really nice,’” said Charlie Dickerson, the vice president of Northern’s booster club. “But, if somebody gave it to me, you don’t want to sound ungrateful, but you’re like, ‘I don’t want this. Our other school was better.’”
