Leesville Road High School’s Hamilton Stadium will undergo extensive renovations beginning in May, 2022.
Updates to the stadium include revamping the track’s asphalt, pits and fences, as well as moving the shot put, discus and high jump areas.
In addition to these renovations, coaches are excited for Leesville’s track to gain electricity. This addition will create easily accessible clocks for games, practices, and other athletic events.
“We can have timing systems set up on the inside of the track, so we can have the play clocks have power to them which we don’t have. Outside the track is the only place we have outlets; we need outlets inside the track,” said Coach Rogers, Leesville’s Athletic Director.
A Push for a New Track
Wake County resurfaced Leesville’s track twice in the last fifteen years and did not plan to renovate it until sometime in the future.
The track, however, deteriorated faster than anticipated and issues like crumbling concrete and dangerous potholes made the facility unsafe, and even unusable for athletes.
These conditions continued for years until the track was finally too worn for teams to utilize the space. Leesville hit this point in the stadium’s decline roughly two years ago. PAC, Leesville’s athletic funding program, has been pushing for a new stadium since then. The trouble is thata new track meant disregarding Wake County’s system for stadium renovations.
“Everything has to go on a rotation,” said Rogers. “I think what they do is they do four tracks a year. They’ve done Broughton high, Holly Springs… it has to do with being on a rotation, and then it has to do with the wear and tear on the track.
“We’ve been trying to beg them for a new track for two years now at least. I think we really amped it up this year because we couldn’t run any home meets last year, and we can’t run any this year,” said Rogers.
In addition to coaches and other team members, parents and students played a crucial role in bringing attention to Leesville’s need for a new track. They wrote to WCPSS board members and explained the significance of the school’s situation further helping Leesville’s cause.
“Some student athletes wrote in to board members and wrote in to people at Wake County which got us a lot of traction…when we told them we can’t have meets here they said ‘okay we can move you up the list and put you next starting in May,’” said Rogers.
Leesville’s new track will be entirely revamped by the 2022-23 school year. Rogers will oversee the project as it happens late in the school year and over the summer.
“We might have to play our first two football games away even if they’re scheduled as home games, but it’ll be well worth it,” Rogers said.
Hi! My name is Lauren! I’m President of the LRHS book club. Outside of school I’m a curler for Team Taylor and I like to rollerblade.