Sports
New field among improvements to Powell-Davis Stadium, home of Venice football
VENICE — The way John Peacock figures it, Venice High now will have a facility in quality equal to its football team. At a cost of $12 million, the tab picked up by Sarasota County, Powell-Davis Stadium didn’t just get a nip here and a tuck there. The renovations to the field and surrounding area […]
VENICE — The way John Peacock figures it, Venice High now will have a facility in quality equal to its football team.
At a cost of $12 million, the tab picked up by Sarasota County, Powell-Davis Stadium didn’t just get a nip here and a tuck there. The renovations to the field and surrounding area make this a total facelift.
And, according to Peacock, a badly needed one at that.
“The County looked at our overall facilities,” the school’s head football coach said. “I mean, they’re from 19-whatever. I don’t know how old they are. Those old bathrooms were from the 1960s. So they said they need to upgrade everything. It was just a comprehensive thing to where they thought they just needed to refurbish the bathrooms, concessions, and everything. The concession stand was horrible and outdated.”
And the upgrades come fresh off Venice winning its fourth state championship, having crushed Lake Mary 52-19 at Pitbull Stadium in Miami for the Class 7A state crown in December, the third under Peacock.
Ground was broken on the project in December. Recently, a new press box, double the size of the previous one, and an updated Jumbotron were added. Besides the new bathrooms and two new concession stands, about 600 seats were added to bring the capacity at Powell-Davis to nearly 5,000.
“Our seating capacity was way under Riverview and Sarasota,” Peacock said. “It still is. We still have the least amount of people. My only concern was the press box. We couldn’t even fit visiting teams’ coaches in there.”
The new press box will provide room for coaches and media, including Venice’s live stream of its games.
“This is something that’s well overdue,” Venice athletic director Larry Shannon said. “These renovations are going to provide a top-notch facility for all of our athletes. This project will allow us to have a stadium that matches up to our athletic programs and campus.”
Venice fans may notice the fence, once situated inside the track which allowed fans to stand on the track during games, has been relocated outside the track. “Now they won’t be able to stand on the track,” Peacock said.
In addition, the track will be resurfaced and the lighting surrounding Powell-Davis improved.
“The field will be lit better,” Peacock said.
As for Venice’s players, they may not notice the new goal posts being brought in, but they will notice the AstroTurf playing surface. Venice was the last school in Sarasota County to play games on natural grass.
“(The new field) is a mixture of sand and tiny wood chips,” Peacock said. “It’s supposed to make it less hot.”
“We’re excited about what the turf is going to bring from a durability standpoint to our campus,” Shannon said. “There won’t be any practice limitations, and there won’t be any wear and tear to worry about like we do now with three football teams, plus soccer and lacrosse also playing on the field on a yearly basis.”
The final renovation will benefit Venice’s beach volleyball team, which has been forced to play its home matches at Venice Beach. Three courts will be built on campus, and extended netting will be installed at the baseball field.
Spring Football Game Schedule
The Sarasota and Manatee County games set for May 20-23.
Tuesday, May 20
Venice at Naples, 7:30
Wednesday, May 21
Gulf Coast at Manatee, 6:30
Clearwater Central Catholic at Palmetto, 7:30
Thursday, May 22
Mitchell, Cardinal Mooney at Clearwater, 6:30 p.m.
Largo at Riverview, 7 p.m.
Mariner at Braden River, 7 p.m.
North Port at Island Coast, 7 p.m.
Southeast at Hollins, 7 p.m.
Friday, May 23
Bayshore, Oasis at Cape Coral, 6 p.m.
Sarasota at Gibb, 7 p.m.