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New AstroTurf has been installed on the field at Rip Hewes Stadium. The new turf is marked off for soccer and football.
Construction workers work on one of the new locker rooms at Rip Hewes Stadium on Wednesday.
Dothan’s historic Rip Hewes Stadium will have a different look to high school football fans this fall.
It will also, for the first time, feature artificial turf, allowing a second sport to play in the facility that was built in 1963.
The 10,000-seat stadium, located off Tate Drive in south Dothan and owned and operated by the City of Dothan, is undergoing renovations to include new locker rooms, concession stands and restrooms plus other cosmetic changes in addition to the new artificial turf.
Though work will continue through the early part of the upcoming football season, most of the project will be finished before the season opens. The first scheduled game at the facility for this year is Thursday, Aug. 18 with Northside Methodist Academy hosting Houston County. A week later, Dothan High hosts Lee of Montgomery for its first home game. Both NMA and Dothan have five homes games at Rip Hewes this season.
“It looks outstanding,” Dothan Superintendent Dr. Dennis Coe said. “Everything out there has been top-notch in the workmanship. You drive up there and it looks like a college stadium. It is something the folks in the city of Dothan will be proud of.”
The latest renovation is Phase II of a two-phase project for the stadium. A year ago, Phase I featured landscaping work in the parking lot area as well as a new video board in the south end zone and newly-installed interactive LED lights.
The latest phase includes two new separate locker room buildings on the north end zone corners, one for the home team and one for visiting teams, with a restroom/concession building in the middle. The three will be non-connecting separate buildings.
A new artificial turf was installed on the playing surface. Most high schools in Class 6A and 7A in the state have gone to or are going to artificial turf surfaces. The new surface at Rip Hewes has been marked for both football and soccer. As a result, Dothan soccer teams could also use the facility in the spring.
The entire cost of the two phase project is around $14 million, said Tyson Carter, Dothan City Leisure Services Assistant Director for Operations.
“The budgets are around $14 million,” Carter said. “Phase I construction was done by Saliba Construction and Phase II is being done by Lewis Construction. The actual project manager from the city side of things is Andy Love, our general services director.”
Most of the work has been completed, Carter said.
“The new systemic Astroturf is in place and complete,” Carter said. “The final inspection has been done on that. New goal posts and new goal post nets are installed and in place. The new delay of game clocks have been installed.”
However, not everything will be finished by the opening game, Carter said.
“The new locker rooms and the new concession stand/restroom facilities in the north end zone will not be complete prior to the start of the season. That will not keep us from playing. We will be playing and playing on time.
“We still have the existing restrooms, concession stands and existing locker rooms (for use).”
Carter said city officials have been told the locker rooms and concessions/restroom areas could be ready in “late September or early October.”
Some parking on the south part of the stadium complex also might not be ready for the opener.
“There is some soil compacting issues in that area,” Carter said. “The majority of the parking lot will be available, though.”
As part of the project, minor work was also done up in the press box to make more room for coaches as well as extra personnel, including new video board operators and technology personnel. New windows were also installed in areas of the press box.
In addition, the stadium ticket booth on the outside of the home side has a new look with more bricks around the windows. Pipes and other areas have been repainted for a fresh look and new gates entering the stadium have been installed.
Carter said handicap seating on the home side, which previously jetted out in the back of the home sideline, has been removed and the handicap area is now part of the grandstands on the first row, just slightly behind the previous handicap spot.
Officials have also inserted a sidewalk inside the stadium from the back of the sidelines around the back of the end zones from one side of the stadium to the other.
“There is a sidewalk that encircles the playing field where you can get from one side of the stadium to the other without having to physically leave the stadium or walk through the end zones,” Carter said.
Carter said the walk-way will be ready for the first game next month.
The new concession stand, once available, will have a couple of unique features.
“In the concessions/restroom area, there is what we call a green room that was built in just in case there is some event that we need to host dignitaries and set up a catering type situation,” Carter said. “Also, next to the concession area is a hook-up for a food truck if that is needed.”
On top of the concession/restroom building will be a new scoreboard with the main football elements of time, down, distance, score and quarter for the games. The previous scoreboard in the left corner of the end zone is now gone.
Remaining from last year on the opposite end zone on the south side of the stadium is the video scoreboard. Behind the video board is a planned green area for possible use of inflatables.
Overall, the stadium will mirror Central of Phenix City’s Garrett Stadium, said Carter. Dothan officials visited that stadium last year.
City officials have been working on plans for the renovation of the stadium for more than two years, said Carter.
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New AstroTurf has been installed on the field at Rip Hewes Stadium. The new turf is marked off for soccer and football.
Construction workers work on one of the new locker rooms at Rip Hewes Stadium on Wednesday.
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