Griffin Athletic Complex - Francis Marion University

Florence, S.C.
Construction Cost: $10.25 million
Occupancy Date: May 2012

Francis Marion University’s new 29-acre Griffin Athletic Complex consists of an 800-seat baseball stadium, a 300-seat softball stadium, a 420-seat soccer stadium and a field house with offices and lockers. The state-of-the-art athletic complex is designed to raise the profile of FMU athletics while also serving to frame the primary entrance to the campus.

A pedestrian plaza links the venues with a combination of hard and soft landscape materials. Berm seating supplements the capacities of all three stadiums. Visible from an adjacent highway, a new four-acre lake serves as a visual anchor to the main plaza. Likewise, the two-story baseball building, which houses concessions and restrooms serving all three stadiums, creates a new public facade when viewed across the lake from the highway. The two-story field house anchors the far end of the plaza and is designed for future expansion.

The exteriors of all venues are clad in brick masonry with cast-stone accents to fit into the campus aesthetic. Exposed structural steel elements on the facade provide relief and contrast to the masonry and accommodate graphic banners and flags.