Photo by Chad Adkins Superintendent Adam Cheeseman’s happiness about the county’s new sports complex was hard to contain on Thursday at Doddridge County High School.

WEST UNION — Adam Cheeseman, superintendent of Doddridge County Schools, said the opening of the new $12.8 million athletic facility at the high school will show everyone in the state how much the county cares about giving children facilities that will help them succeed.

“It’s almost surreal, but I’m very proud,” he said. “But why not us? Our kids deserve the very best.”

Cheeseman said the facility includes a new football field, stands, an eight-lane running track, a new baseball field, turf on the girls softball field and the construction of a new student activity center. He said a 16,000 square foot building just north of the football field will contain both home and visitors locker rooms, public restrooms and the concession stand. The second-floor of the building also will be the new home of the board of education, he said.

“This project has created quite a buzz,” he said.

As construction workers finished projects around the site, Cheeseman said the majority of the work should be completed by July 13, ready for the high school’s first home football game on Aug. 30. He said one of the first things people will notice that has changed is the ample parking as compared to the old field.

Photo by Chad Adkins Workers finishing up construction have a scenic back drop to gaze at on Thursday at Doddridge County High School.

“We will have parking places numbering in the upper 300s,” he said.

Cheeseman said the old field located next to the West Union City Park really didn’t have any parking at all.

“People would just park on the sides of West Virginia 18 for the game,” he said.

Cheeseman said the new scoreboard at the complex will draw even more attention than the parking.

“We were told that the only ones that are bigger (in the state) are at WVU and Marshall,” he said.

Photo by Chad Adkins The new student activity center in left field will surely be a target for home-run shots out of the renovated softball field at Doddridge County High School.

“The scoreboard is just the icing on the cake,” said Jeff Harvey, clerk of the works for Doddridge County Schools.

Harvey said the planning phase for the project started three years ago, but inclement weather slowed construction of the facility over two years.

“We had record rainfall in this area,” he said. “We had 167 rain days in a single year.”

Harvey said before construction, the site was a hill that was covered with trees. Every time it rained, workers were forced to wait until everything dried before they could move the earth to create a flat area.

One project that won’t be ready by July 13 is the new baseball field, Cheeseman said. Still waiting for turf, he said the turf manufacturer’s exacting standards require the lot for the field to be in better condition before they can put down the artificial grass.

Photo by Chad Adkins Locker rooms wait to be filled with football gear and excited players on Thursday at Doddridge County High School.

“The company’s president said he didn’t want to put his name on it until he knew it could be done right. I agree with him,” said Cheeseman.

Cheeseman said the field will be done in plenty of time before the opening of the baseball season.

Even though the facility has state-of-the-art amenities for players and spectators, Cheeseman said the natural beauty of the surrounding countryside will benefit the entire experience of watching a sporting event there.

“The complex has to be one of the most picturesque in the area,” he said.

Chad Adkins can be reached at cadkins@newsandsentinel.com.