Darin Van Tassell, owner of the Clubhouse and South Georgia Tormenta FC, plans to break ground on a new soccer stadium in March 2019 and to be fully functional in 2020.

The stadium’s seating capacity will be 5,300 and will hold up to 14,000 people for concerts. Van Tassell expects the stadium to include offices, men and women locker rooms, an athletic training room, a restaurant and craft brewery, a retail space, teams store, luxury suites, and a VIP meeting space.

“To have this stadium as a larger development project that includes The Clubhouse, residential and retail offerings, grocery store, movie theater, professional and medical offices, as well as hotels, permits the new stadium to be a focal point of a unique “Live, Work, Eat, and Play” location for Statesboro, the university, and the state of Georgia,” Van Tassell said.

Georgia Southern’s men and women soccer teams will have access and host games at the new stadium as well. This is the first time GS’ fans and athletes will be able to enjoy a state of the art stadium, according to GS’ head women’s soccer coach, Brian Dunleavy.

“The benefits of a larger facility are immense,” Dunleavy said. “We will have the potential to play in front of large crowds in an incredible stadium and the atmosphere will enhance our home field advantage.”

The overall cost of the stadium is approximately $30 million and, according to Van Tassell, road and parking improvements will be made to accommodate the new stadium. Old Register Road will be widened to a five-lane road. A new road, Tormenta Way, will connect Old Register Road and the Akins Boulevard extension.

Tormenta FC recently announced that all students of all ages will get into the games for just $1 and ESPN+ will broadcast all United Soccer League One’s games for the inaugural 2019 season.

Sarah Smith, The George-Anne Candidate, ganewsed@georgiasouthern.edu