LA Tech baseball, softball, soccer fields condemned

After suffering catastrophic damage from an EF-3 tornado in April, Louisiana Tech has made the decision to demolish the baseball, softball, and soccer stadiums this summer. Athletic Director Tommy McClelland says after extensive surveys, they came to the conclusion that trying to salvage those sites just wouldn’t be safe.

“It is, in my opinion, certainly the more responsible thing to do than to try to repair those things.”

The tornado caused hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of damage, and took the lives of two people.

McClelland says they’re working on cutting a deal for fall baseball and softball practice at Ruston high schools including potentially altering class schedules to accommodate, but the games themselves could be played all over…

“They may play some games in Frisco where they have a really great alumni base in the Dallas Fort Worth area, we may take some road games to Monroe, or Shreveport, or Jackson Mississippi.”

Soccer reports to practice August 1^st, but McClelland says they’ve worked out a deal with a local rec complex to host most practices and games.

With the old facilities condemned, McClelland says they’ve begun plans to construct new facilities, and they’ve hired an architect familiar with stadium construction to build something fans will be proud of.

“They are already beginning to work on programming, and what things needed to be added, and designing towards that.”