DUNLAP, Ill. – Dunlap High School broke ground on Wednesday on its new $8.5 million athletic training center.
The 42,500-square-foot facility will include a 165-meter indoor track, a dance studio, three courts, and training rooms for student-athletes. The training center is expected to serve 5,000 students and the Dunlap community.
Plans for the training center have been on the drawing board since before the pandemic began. Once the pandemic subsided, the Dunlap school board launched into a year-long, detailed planning mode.
Funding for the new sports complex comes from the district’s reserves, which have around $38 million saved.
Dunlap Unit District #323 Superintendent, Dr. Scott Dearman, tells 25 News, the training center is also sponsored by Fortress Bank. In exchange for signage, the bank will give the school $30,000 each year to help with expenses.
“It’s exciting to see how this training center will contribute to whatever activity students are in,” Dearman says.
According to the superintendent, the new facility will help with the limited gym space and create a better balance between school and sports for student athletes.
The new training center is expected to open late next fall.
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