GULF SHORES — The Gulf Shores Sportsplex could soon see upgrades to its facilities under a proposal from Gulf Shores City Schools that would add to the growing sports destination.

The plan, presented for informational purposes — as no action was required at the recent city planning meeting — outlines improvements to the baseball, softball and soccer complexes on site.

Gulf Shores school board president Kevin Corcoran presented the proposed additions and said the timeframe is undetermined, but installation will be “full speed ahead” if presented with an acceptable construction bid.

“This is a long overdue project,” Corcoran said. “These are revenue-producing sports for Gulf Shores City Schools. Baseball and softball were, I don’t want to say neglected, but it is certainly time for an upgrade. These revenue-producing sports do plan to participate in the cost — this will allow us to go out for bid to determine the total magnitude of the project, but it is well deserved as our baseball, softball and soccer teams are highly successful.”

Proposed additions include the construction of two 9,000-square-foot fieldhouses for Dolphins baseball and softball. Each fieldhouse will feature locker rooms, coaches’ offices, laundry rooms and pitching and hitting facilities. In addition, the plan includes relocating the current visitor dugouts.

The proposal also calls for approximately 2,100 square feet of new locker room space to be added to the existing football fieldhouse to serve the high school soccer teams. The Dolphins' soccer teams have previously used portable locker rooms at the Sportsplex. City Director of Recreation and Cultural Affairs and planning commission member Grant Brown noted during the discussion that the track program would benefit as well.

“The (current) fieldhouse, which was built in 1998-99, is significantly undersized,” Brown stated. “We used to have a smaller football team — the track team has not had any place to use as their locker room and the same with both soccer teams. So, just the expansion of the fieldhouse will allow three additional sports to have the appropriate facilities.”

Brown led a majority of the discussion and brought attention to the need for the upgrades as well as the rapid growth of the Sportsplex. If approved, this would be the third upgrade to the Sportsplex in as many years, following the addition of a multi-sport facility in 2024 and the turf football field in 2025.

“Over the years, there is other master planning that we are hoping to be able to do at the Sportsplex to accommodate not just the schools but the growth with our youth sports,” Brown said. “We just spent two hours with a different meeting talking through the significant need for additional fields and facilities to support the youth programs. So right now, there is a pretty good camaraderie [between the] city, the city rec programs, the schools, the coaches, and it seems like all of this is coming together.”

The additions have previously been discussed by city council's Recreation Committee. Final review and approval will be required from city council since the city owns the Sportsplex. Funding for the project would be a combination of state capital grants and revenue from Gulf Shores City Schools athletics.