Booker High hosts grand opening of its field house

After a recent track and field remodel at Booker High School, the school celebrated the addition of another piece on Aug. 29. 

Numerous local officials turned out to celebrate the grand opening of the school's new field house facility, which has been under construction since May 2024. 

The project, budgeted at $2.2 million as of June, replaces the school's original field facilities with a new field house and locker rooms, remodeled from a previous storage and chiller facility. 

That same night, the school also held a home football game, in which it won 29-23 against Tampa Berkeley Prep, with Superintendent of Sarasota County Schools Terry Connor performing the coin toss prior to the start of the game.

Although the game was soon to get underway as the ribbon-cutting took place, Coach Carlos Woods and a few athletes took to the podium so that Woods could praise the addition to the school. 

“Thank you to everyone that was involved, everyone that said yes, to keep pushing, keep pushing, to get everything that we need to in order to take our student athletes to the next level,” he said. 

Some of the features of the climate-controlled space are locker rooms, a conference room, offices for coaching staff, a nutrition area for student athletes, specialized areas for the trainer, storage for uniforms, showers and restrooms. 

Principal Rachel Shelley, who has been with the school for 15 years, said she had long wanted to see this type of project for the athletes.  

"It was not up to standards," she said of the school's previous space 

She said the field house will give the school a competitive edge when it comes to facilities. 

"I think it's going to add a lot of desire to want to be in that environment, so I think our overall athletic program is going to be enhanced because of it," she said.