Ground was broken in November on a new sports facility complex at All Saints’ Episcopal School in Fort Worth.
The PK-12 college preparatory day school on the city’s far west side is partnering with Game On Arena Sports on the multi-sport center, called Game On Sports Complex. The development, located at the corner of Interstate Highway 30 and Loop 820 fronting Alemeda Street, will offer a home for volleyball, basketball, baseball, football, softball and indoor soccer for teams and leagues of all ages.
When combined with the existing Game On soccer and football arena located nearby at 215 Settlement Plaza, the entire complex will boast 190,000 square feet of training and competition space between two facilities (140,000 square feet under roof and 50,000 square feet of outdoor space) and will become the largest athletic performance complex in North Texas.
The new facility will feature 12 indoor regulation competition volleyball courts, which are convertible to six full-size basketball courts; eight outdoor regulation sand volleyball courts; seven pitching/batting cages; a health-oriented dining facility; two party rooms; an outdoor performance stage; 6,000 square feet of retail space; and an 11,000-square-foot performance training space to include a track and artificial turf field.
One of the school’s objectives has been to find ways to generate revenue from sources other than tuition and endowment earnings, so called “alternative revenue,” as primary sources of funding for school operations. All Saints’ Summer University program, 51 School Store and short-term rental of existing facilities all help generate alternative revenue.
In 2013, All Saints’ acquired an adjacent 44 acres for future expansion of the school’s 103-acre campus. According to Head of School Tad Bird, the acquisition of the additional 44 acres preserved the integrity of the campus, enhanced the school’s ability to control the safety in and around the campus for the 1,000-plus students, and enabled All Saints’ “to put into play a thoughtful and deliberate long-term growth plan.”
Once school officials determined that the eastern-most portion of the 44 acres would not be needed for school use for years to come, they evaluated multiple ways to put it to use as an alternative revenue source.
“To ensure long-term financial sustainability for All Saints’, the less tuition-dependent we are the better,” said Frank Tilley, chief financial officer.
All Saints’ is leasing 8.5 acres of the 44 acres to Game On for development of the new sports complex.
“We are so excited to collaborate with Game On to bring this incredible state-of-the-art athletic training facility to the greater Fort Worth community,” Bird said. “The ground lease provides long-term revenue to All Saints’ as well as other benefits to schools and athletes across the entire North Texas region. It’s truly a win-win for all.”
Halbach-Dietz Architects of Fort Worth is the architect on the project and Fort Construction is the contractor. Pinnacle Bank is financing the project.
The Game On Sports Complex is expected to open in August.
The headline and last graph have been updated.