Crosby ISD—Baseball & Softball Complex
Architect: cre8 Architects
A new baseball & softball complex for high school boys and girls teams, each with a competition and practice fields, covered seating, fans, press boxes, artificial turf fields, and batting cage building to replace natural turf field with drainage uses, uncovered bleachers and no concessions.
Design
This project is a new baseball and softball complex capable of hosting two competition games and two practice games simultaneously. The new complex can also host playoff games and tournaments, and community leagues, which could not be accommodated with the previous fields. Each competition field has covered bleachers with fans and a press box. A batting cage building is shared. The team’s colors are represented in the red steel and the site is branded with graphics of the athletes.
Value
The ability to now host regional playoffs and community leagues is of great value to the Client. This could not be accomplished with their previous fields. All fields are artificial turf to eliminate the need for watering and fertilizers. Durable steel and metal panels with a long life cycle are building materials. For high volume events, parking is shared with a neighboring campus and fans are transported via District shuttle carts.
Sustainability
Fresh air, sunshine, physical activity, high volume low speed fans, playing fields that don’t require water or fertilizers, regionally fabricated steel and metal panels, and LED lighting are all sustainable features of this project.
Community
A community town hall session was held for this project and ideas generated were incorporated into the final plan. Community adult and youth leagues can use the facility, and community partners held fund the concessions and graphic banners of the athletes.
Planning
Programming and design charettes were held with the administration, coaching staff and athletes to set the direction of this project. Configuring the site into a clover-leaf plan allowed the team to situate two competition and two practice fields efficiently on the site. The baseball fields are large enough to be used as practice fields for the football team. Particular care was given to the plaza area, which created a gathering space before games.
School Transformation
The previous fields were first built in the 1970s, and had been re-graded and re-sodded many times. There were no practice fields, it was expensive watering the fields to keep them alive in the Texas sun, and during periods of rain the fields would not drain properly. The bleachers were uncovered, no concessions, and restrooms too far away. The new Complex is shaded with fans, press boxes, batting cage building, a concession area and room for food trucks, and artificial turf on all 4 fields.
Star of Distinction Category Winner