What is North Main Athletic Complex Stadium?
The Town of Holly Springs bought part of a 62-acre piece of land. This land is between North Main Street and the NC 55 Bypass. It was meant for fill-dirt mining for the South Wake Landfill. The town developed a multi-use sports and park complex called North Main Athletic Complex Stadium.
The Town planned for the complex to support many youth and adult sports. These include baseball, softball, soccer, tennis, and lacrosse. It will also be home to the Holly Springs Salamanders, a summer collegiate baseball team in the Coastal Plains League. The complex offers space and equipment rentals and host concerts and events to bring residents and visitors together.
WithersRavenel’s Role in North Main Athletic Complex Stadium
WithersRavenel provided surveying, planning, engineering, landscape architecture, and construction administration services to develop a 42-acre recreational complex, including:
- A 133,850 SF, 1,800-seat multi-sport artificial turf stadium
- 183,000 SF of artificial turf designated for two lighted soccer fields
- Eight 78′ United States Tennis Association (USTA) tennis courts
- Four U-8 tennis courts
- Greenway trails along Little Branch Stream
- Parking
- Athletic field
- Safety lighting
Future amenities include a gymnasium/community center, playgrounds, and potential Miracle League baseball field.
What sports can North Main Athletic Complex Stadium accommodate?
The multi-sport stadium can hold one baseball, football, or soccer game at a time. The soccer fields can host four U10 games, four U12 games, two 11 vs. 11 games, or two lacrosse games at once.
Different sports and levels of play are accommodated by using solid turf lines and tick marks. The facilities are arranged to achieve the best possible adjacencies and appropriate solar orientations for the fields.
What did WithersRavenel do at North Main Athletic Complex Stadium?
Beneath this complex lies a game-changing secret: an innovative stormwater management system designed by WithersRavenel to use the artificial turf of the multi-sport stadium, Miracle League baseball field, and two soccer fields as stormwater control measures.
During rainfall, water soaks into the turf, which acts like a filter. It collects in an underground gravel area. Most of the underdrains lead to a stormwater pond that helps other parts of the site. The underdrain for the multi-sport field goes to a level spreader and filter strip. WithersRavenel also designed the complex to minimize impacts to the Town of Holly Springs’ Cape Fear riparian buffers.
WithersRavenel coordinated with the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) for the future widening of North Main Street, as well as a proposed superstreet connection between North Main Street and the NC 55 Bypass. This foresight will help the NCDOT make traffic improvements. These changes will reduce congestion without losing any new facilities. They will also avoid expensive redesigns of the planned roadways.
Finally, WithersRavenel created an underpass through a highway culvert. This allows pedestrians and cyclists on the nearby greenway to safely cross under North Main Street. This structure was designed to reduce impacts on the surrounding area. It shows the harmony between synthetic and natural landscapes in the complex.