Parents and boosters say Northern High School's athletic facilities are failing students despite the school's $96 million price tag, with design cuts and safety gaps still unresolved more than two years after the North Roxboro Road campus opened in September 2023.
The most visible problem plays out on game nights. Northern's girls soccer team plays on the football field while a purpose-built soccer field behind the stands sits empty. The new field is wedged between a brick concession building and North Roxboro Road, and there is no safety net to stop balls from entering traffic. Soccer and lacrosse teams cannot use it at all.
The locker room situation is just as tight. The football stadium field house was designed as a two-story building with generous locker space. It was never built that way. What exists instead: three shower stalls and 45 lockers shared by junior varsity and varsity football rosters that together can exceed 80 players.
Charlie Dickerson, vice president of Northern's booster club, did not mince words. "It's obviously new," he said of the facilities. "But I would probably use the word not what the taxpayers paid for."
The problems go back to the school's first season. The football team played all but the last two home games at Durham County Stadium and Jordan High School because the new field was not ready. Other outdoor teams practiced at the old campus while construction delays dragged on.
Athletics director David Hackney, in office since 2019, acknowledged the gap between original plans and what was built. "Due to budget constraints, certain elements of the original design plans were modified or removed," he wrote in an emailed statement. He added that the district must balance needs across multiple schools and is committed to addressing concerns as efficiently as possible. He also said all Northern athletic facilities comply with NCHSAA and National Federation of State High School Associations regulations.
Compliance and adequacy are not the same thing. The safety net question remains open, and no timeline for fixing the soccer field has been made public.