Sports

County adds tennis courts, softball diamond to Berkeley soccer complex

By Bill Moss, Published: January 15, 2025

Soccer players will enjoy high-quality fields and Hendersonville High School’s tennis and softball teams will have a home in the new Berkeley Park sports complex.

Henderson County commissioners voted unanimously on Wednesday to appropriate an additional $1.3 million on top of a $10 million base price for the sportsplex, which will now include four regulation-size soccer fields, six tennis courts for use by the HHS men’s and women’s tennis teams and a softball diamond for use by the Lady Bearcat team. The tennis courts and softball fields would be open to the public when not in use by the varsity prep teams.

The board, which had authorized the base bid last month, agreed to the add-ons after School Board member Blair Craven announced publicly for the first time a $600,000 donation by two HHS boosters to help cover two-thirds of the cost of the facilities for the Bearcat teams. The tennis courts will cost $585,000 and the softball diamond $375,200. Both items were among bid alternatives the winning bidder, Candler-based Tennoca Construction Co., submitted in November. The contractor agreed to guarantee the prices for 60 days, a term which would have expired in the coming days.

The costliest add-on was an extra $975,000 for a better quality artificial turf for the soccer fields. After a detailed presentation and a long discussion of the pros and cons of the playing surface, commissioners agreed to the higher quality, more durable top. Assistant City Manager Christopher Todd and a representative for the turf contractor described the advantages of the enhanced turf. It would be cooler and safer, would require less maintenance and would last longer, they said.

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