NEWS

Neville plans $1.5M indoor practice facility

Barbara Leader
bleader@thenewsstar.com

Plans are underway to construct an indoor practice and activity center at Neville High School.

Coach Mickey McCarty said the school is planning for a multi-use building — a structure that has a big field in it with locker rooms and restrooms.

The facility will likely be modeled after similar ones in Arkansas and Texas.

McCarty said he believes it will be about 60 yards by 60 yards and cost at least $1.5 million “that’s a very rough estimate.”

The project will be privately funded. Eddie Hakim, president of North American Land Development, has committed to cover a significant portion of the costs.

“Mr. Hakim is the backbone of the project,” McCarty said.

Hakim said he is happy to be involved with the new facility.

“I graduated from Neville, so I’m going to give back to them as much as I can,” he said. “I owe much of my success to the people at Neville High School.”

The building will be designed for use by athletic teams, the band, spirit groups and physical education classes. Plans are to construct it on a portion of the school’s practice field.

“The schools that have these buildings get tremendous use out of them,” he said. “They are a real asset.”

McCarty said he hopes to have plans drawn up by the first of the year with a completion date during 2015.

“It’s really still in the idea phase, but I’m hopeful that this will become a reality,” he said. “It would be the first in this area.”

Follow Barbara Leader on Twitter @barbaraleader1.