High school land acquisition to move athletic fields

Options sought for Schriever Amtrack
September 9, 2014
Terrebonne council ponders options to fight local blight
September 9, 2014
Options sought for Schriever Amtrack
September 9, 2014
Terrebonne council ponders options to fight local blight
September 9, 2014

In order to provide one of the parish’s high schools additional room for activities, the Terrebonne Parish School Board approved a measure to purchase land next to South Terrebonne High School for $1.4 million.

The school district is spending $35,000 per acre on the 40-acre property. The school board unanimously approved the purchase.


“I think we’re indeed fortunate to have a very valuable and select piece of property adjacent to one of our high schools,” Superintendent Philip Martin said.

Martin said the school district had $1.5 million left over from the construction of the Freshman Center – a ninth grade addition to H.L. Bourgeois High School, which opened last year.

The excess funds – $100,000 of which is left – can be used toward buildings, construction and acquiring property, according to Martin.


The superintendent said the immediate plan for the lot next door to South Terrebonne is to move the two softball fields and the football practice area from the school’s front yard to the new side yard.

“I’ve been asked that question many times, ‘That looks terrible. Why are they there?’ And the answer is, ‘Well, where else can they be? There’s no other place for them to be.’ So conveniently that will have a direct impact on the school,” Martin said.

South Terrebonne Principal Mark Torbert said the football team had also moved practices from the field next to the stadium behind the school to the front because the field in the front doesn’t hold water as much as the one behind the school.


“It was an opportunity that presented itself because, obviously, to be able to buy that kind of property adjacent to a major school in the area doesn’t come up very often, so I think it’s going to be a good move for our campus,” Torbert said.

Additionally, the band will be able to practice on the field instead of a concrete slab, according to Martin.

“A high school, when you’re talking about band, soccer, baseball, boys and girls sports and football, it takes a lot of property, and you can’t be sharing one field,” the superintendent said. “Those activities happen kind of simultaneously, so we’re looking forward to helping South Terrebonne.”


But maybe most importantly, the Gator community will be happy to once again show off the front of its school with the athletic fields out of the way. Curtis and Davis Associated, the same firm who later designed the Superdome, designed South Terrebonne High School for its opening in 1961.

“For years now, it’s been a concern of the community to try to clear up the front area to bring back the historical nature of the building,” Torbert said. “They just want to show off the pride of the school and its historical nature.”

Martin and Torbert said there is no timeframe as to when the fields would be moved to the new property. Both left open the possibility of future expansion of the newly area.


“I want to get with the school and the athletic community there and let them decide what, when, where and how – let them have some involvement in that. We’ve had some preliminary discussions … and they’re excited,” Martin said. “For future expansion, we have to look not today and tomorrow but 20 years down the road. Things can change dramatically, and this provides the potential for a lot of possibilities.”

Three of the four public high schools in Terrebonne Parish – with Terrebonne High School being landlocked – have additional room for possible future expansion.

Martin said land purchased near H.L. Bourgeois where the Freshman Center stands still has space for development, as well as 80 acres of land near Ellender Memorial High School where the Terrebonne Career and Technical High School sits.


South Terrebonne is pressed for land and space on its campus, so the school has been stuck practicing on its front field – something school officials hope to rectify with the acquisition of a new field adjacent to the school

COURTESY PHOTO