Cape Girardeau Public Schools' new indoor athletic facility benefits students

Workers finish hanging the sign on the outside of Cape Girardeau Public Schools’ new indoor athletic facility.

Courtesy Cape Girardeau Public Schools

While Cape Girardeau Public Schools’ new indoor athletic facility will have its official ribbon-cutting Friday, Aug. 30, district students are already reaping the benefits of the multipurpose space.

The 44,000-square-foot facility on Cape Central High School’s campus offers athletes from elementary through high school within the district a practice space for multiple sports and activities.

Its features include a regulation-width artificial turf football field that can also be used for soccer practices, runways and pits for track and field athletes who participate in jumping events, batting cages for baseball and softball and, eventually, a golf simulator for the boys and girls golf teams.

“The big thing is, we wanted to touch as many programs as we could,” district athletic director Tyson Moyers said, “and I think we accomplished that.”

Athletics won’t be the sole beneficiary of the facility. Students who participate in the marching band will be able to use the facility for their practices, something Josh Crowell, assistant superintendent of Support Services, kept in mind when breaking down the details.

“We made sure that the turf that we have at the stadium was exactly replicated in the facility so that when kids are running a route, or our band kids are looking at a marker on a particular yardage line, it is identical in the facility as to what they will see out there on the stadium field,” Crowell said. “We really paid attention to those fine details.”

Practice space isn’t the only feature the facility offers, as the building includes three new locker rooms — one for football, one for boys and girls soccer and one for girls cross country and track — as well as coaches’ offices, a trainer’s room and additional storage space.

“Everybody knows there’s a football locker room and offices, but not everybody knows there’s a soccer locker room for both boys and girls soccer,” Moyers said. “... There’s three locker rooms in that building and a main storage area. It’s really going to create a great atmosphere and a great place for our people.”

Construction of the facility cost approximately $4.9 million and took around 18 months to complete. The project was fully funded from the district’s capital improvements fund, and school board members voted in September 2023 to split construction into two phases to remain within budget.

“Through good decisions made by our district over the last several years leading up to this, and even going back further, we were able to save for various in-house projects,” Crowell said. “This basically fit the bill because of the impact it’s going to have districtwide. … This isn’t something that just benefited the football team, or the soccer team, or the baseball team or the band, it’s capturing all of those activities.”

At the varsity level, Moyers said the additional practice space will be beneficial for all athletic teams, even those that won’t be able to use it actively.

“Yeah, volleyball’s not going to get anything out of it,” Moyers said. “But what will happen is, because of the amount of space that we’ve opened up in the actual high school building, it does affect them because they have more storage space now, they’re not as cramped for space in there and their practices aren’t disrupted if outdoor sports get weather. It’s a win-win for all of our programs.”

The district first utilized the facility on the last day of summer school when it held Summer Olympic-themed activities for elementary students. Additionally, it has already been used for band practices, softball camps and a full-contact football camp featuring other schools in Southeast Missouri that needed to be moved indoors because of the heat.

With the facility’s completion, Moyers said he believes it demonstrates the district’s commitment to education-based athletics to parents, students and coaches alike.

“Obviously, the district sees that athletics plays a vital role in our kids’ education, and I wholeheartedly, as an athletic director, believe that,” Moyers said. “That’s the first thing. The big thing is we’re invested in our kids’ success.

“There will be a ton of kids that go through Cape Central, as well as any other school across the country, that if they’re not involved in something extracurricular, they will not succeed or at least reach their full potential. I do believe that athletics and other activities provide that needed motivation to complete their schoolwork, do better in school or make sure they show up.”