Durham High School’s football stadium is getting a serious reset before the fall season, with a new grandstand, visitor bleachers and a large shade structure headed into place. The changes are aimed at making game night better for the people watching from the stands, not just the players on the field.
Action News Now reported Monday that the new grandstand will seat about 750 people. The project also includes tables beneath the shade structure, new visitor-side seating and an upgraded sound system, with funding coming from community donations, Measure B bond dollars and food-service funding.
The bleacher situation is getting more than a fresh coat of paint. In an earlier update, the Durham Unified School District said a previous community-led Coliseum Project had already delivered an all-weather track, an improved grass field, a snack bar and new restrooms, but the stadium still relied on its original bleachers and announcers booth.
Measure B provided the path to finish that remaining stadium work, replacing the older structures with a new grandstand and announcers booth. The district had previously said the old bleachers and booth would be demolished as part of the project.
New Shade And Sound Join The Grandstand
By early May, the district said the shade structure had been installed and the grandstand was nearly complete. A later construction update from Durham Unified also highlighted the upgraded sound system and the stadium’s planned use for upcoming sporting events.
The result should be most obvious to fans arriving for football: more seating, protection from the sun and a better setup for announcements and game-day noise. Action News Now said fans will be among the first to benefit from the improvements when the new season gets underway.
For a school community that helped build the stadium’s earlier improvements, the project represents a long-awaited final piece. When Durham football returns, the home side should look considerably less like a work in progress and more like a finished Friday-night venue.
