North DeSoto to see $3.1 million athletic facilities upgrade

A multi-million dollar project will lift the North DeSoto athletic facilities into the next millennium and should continue to attract young families to the Stonewall area.

The $3.1 million project, approved recently by the DeSoto Parish School Board, includes changes to the baseball and softball fields as well as construction of a new wrestling facility, which will cost $872,000. The 80’x100′ building will have room for four competition mats, male and female locker rooms, coaches’ offices and storage rooms.

“This will be one of the nicest wrestling facilities in the country,” NDHS coach Dustin Burton said. “This is a huge moment for North DeSoto wrestling and for everyone who has helped build this program into what it is today.”

Both the baseball and softball fields will be turfed ($1,954,000) from front to back and the turf on the softball field is due to go down within the next few days. NDHS batting cages ($277,034) work will extend the existing slab to erect a 70’x100′ batting cage for athletic team use. It will go from two tunnels to four tunnels, which increases the cages to now hold 12 bays.

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“The new cages will allow our players to get quality work no matter the weather,” ND softball coach Tim Whitman said. “The field will allow us to get on the field more for practice and games. It will also give our athletes, both varsity and our middle school, the chance to play on one of the best facilities, if not the best facility, in the state for many years to come.”

Additionally, the existing batting cages will be moved to the North DeSoto Middle School softball field for public use ($48,570). A new slab was poured, the original I-beams were erected and the purlins and roof were replaced.

The North DeSoto wrestling, softball and baseball teams each have won LHSAA state titles in the four years.

Jimmy Watson covers Louisiana sports for the USA TODAY Network. Email him at jwatson@shreveporttimes.com and follow him on Twitter @JimmyWatson6.

This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: North DeSoto to see $3.1 million athletic facilities upgrade