Courtesy Photo This is a drawing showing the new stadium and artificial surface playing field Hood plans to open next year. Purchase this photo

Hood president Ronald Volpe said the outdoor facility will include a turf field, bleachers that will seat between 400 and 500, locker rooms and a pressbox.

The entrance will be located off Magnolia Ave. There will be a plaza at the entrance. The fields will be located where the existing fields are.

He said most of the money for the outdoor facility came from the Hodson Trust. Some smaller gifts funded the rest of the project.

The school's soccer, lacrosse and field hockey teams will use the field starting next fall. It will also be open to the community when not in use by Hood.

"Most of the work on the field will start in mid-May as soon as the students leave," Volpe said. "It should be completed by Aug. 1."

Volpe said there had been complaints about the risks of injuries on the old grass field.

When Hood joined the Capital Athletic Conference prior to the 2006-2007 school year, school officials said they would improve the college's athletic facilities.

"There were some concerns about our facilities and we were obligated to show some progress," he said. "If we had not shown progress with the field, we would be in big trouble."

The school is also planning to put in new dugouts for the softball team.

Meanwhile, the school still plans to build a new indoor facility, which will be located next to the outdoor field. It would replace the outdated Gambrill Gym.

Originally, Volpe hoped that facility would be all brick like the other buildings on campus. But the cost to build such a facility would be between $25 and $30 million, and he realized the school could not raise that much money.

Instead, they plan to build a facility with only a brick facade. Volpe said it would cost between $12 and $15 million.

"The big cost was the brick and mortar and we will save a lot of money if we reduce the exterior brick work," Volpe said. "We don't have to have brick on all four sides. We can have more of a steel building."

He said the school has raised 3 or 4 million dollars for the indoor facility, but would need another $10 million to begin serious work.

The Hood basketball teams now must play their home games off campus, mostly at Thomas Johnson High School.

Volpe said the interior of the indoor facility will remain the same with seating for about 2,000.

He believes the outdoor complex will help with fundraising for the indoor facility.

According to Volpe, Hood opponents have not complained about playing at a high school gym.

"They realize we don't now have a homecourt and they don't have to play in front of rabid fans," he said. "Some coaches also use it as a recruiting advantage over our coaches."

The school plans to sell naming opportunities to both the outdoor and indoor facilities to try and raise money. Gifts can range from $10,000 for naming opportunities to a dugout to $3 million for the naming opportunity to the indoor facility.

He admitted this is not a good time to be trying to raise money for any projects.

"We won't be deterred, we will keep at it," he said.