By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – The new Thompson High School stadium and multipurpose indoor practice facility have taken major steps over the past few weeks toward being ready to host the Warriors, as construction crews have nearly completed rolling out the stadium’s synthetic turf.

In a pair of May 2 tweets, THS head football coach Mark Freeman shared the progress on the pair of facilities, which are set to host THS football practices and games beginning in the fall.

“Indoor facility is ready for action!!!” Freeman tweeted along with a photo of the nearly completed 30,000-square-foot indoor practice facility, which features synthetic turf, a weight training area and yard line markers.

Freeman also shared a photo of the stadium, which showed the bleachers and press box completed and nearly the entire field covered in synthetic turf.

Once it is completed, the football and soccer stadium will be able to seat 5,293 spectators, and will be the new home of the Warriors after several decades of playing at Larry Simmons Stadium off Thompson Road.

While the main academic building of the new high school opened to students in late February, crews were not yet done constructing the fine arts center and the campus’ athletic facilities.

In addition to the stadium and indoor practice facility, the new THS athletic facilities also will include five multipurpose practice fields, six tennis courts, baseball and softball stadiums. The baseball and softball teams each will have their own field houses, and a 27,000-square-foot filed house will serve football, soccer, track and tennis teams.

The Shelby County Commission has partnered with ACS to provide upgrades to the THS track and field complex, including a 444-seat bleacher, upgraded lighting, a restroom-concession stand building and official time recording at sanctioned events in the hopes of attracting future collegiate track events.