Dignitaries and administrators, staff and faculty members, and student-athletes from Fayetteville Technical Community College gathered at J.P. Riddle Stadium Tuesday for a ceremonial groundbreaking for a new softball field.
The field is being built on just over an acre of land on the nearly 15-acre stadium property which is already home to FTCC’s baseball field and stands.
Like the baseball field, the softball field will be built to top standards. When complete, it will meet NCAA regulation standards. The project’s first phase will consist of the softball field, a scoreboard and lights. That work is expected to be completed this summer. Later phases will include construction of a second locker room facility for softball, next to an existing facility used by baseball.
The $1.9 million project will provide a permanent home for the Trojan softball team and represents a commitment by the College to providing equitable facilities for its women athletes. The softball team currently uses Honeycutt Park at Kiwanis Recreation Center as its home field. FTCC’s baseball team is based at J.P. Riddle Stadium, which was gifted to the College by the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners in January 2019.
“Now they’ll have a place to call their own,” FTCC President Dr. Larry Keen said of the Trojan softball team.
About three dozen people wielded shovels in the groundbreaking, including Keen and members and coaches of FTCC’s softball and baseball teams. Other participants included State Reps. John Szoka and Diane Wheatley, Cumberland County Commissioners Glenn Adams and Larry Lancaster and FTCC Trustee Charles Koonce. Joseph P. Riddle III and Carolyn Riddle Armstrong were also key participants. The stadium was originally developed in the 1980s by their father, J.P. Riddle, and is named for him.
“The family is really happy,” Riddle said. “We really appreciate what Fayetteville Tech has done. Y’all have great facilities here. This softball field will be phenomenal.”
The softball field is expected to be ready for play in 2023.