PHOENIX, AZ ― Agua Fria Union High School District recently unveiled its newest field house to students, staff, parents and community members at a grand opening celebration at Desert Edge High School in Goodyear, Arizona. McCarthy Building Companies, a national construction company with more than 150 years in the industry, constructed the $3-million, 10,565-square-foot field house, which provides additional athletic competition and support spaces, as well as instructional areas.
The Desert Edge Field House features a new athletic training triage space for stadium sports; strength training facility with weights; sprint training track; and a 3,300-square-foot outdoor training area. In addition, academic areas provide new spaces for advanced sports medicine instruction and athletic training curriculum. The new field house and sand volleyball courts allow the district to expand women’s sports and provide locker rooms and support spaces for all athletics teams.
“This new facility, which was realized through the support of our community and patrons, gives the students and faculty a state-of-the-art-building for the support of sports medicine, training and health-related student services,” said Dennis Runyan, Agua Fria Superintendent. “It is a wonderful addition to the contemporary comprehensive high school athletic environment.”
Since opening in 2002, Desert Edge High School has lacked facilities suitable for robust men’s and women’s competitive athletics programs and educational environments that support career and technical programs, such as sports medicine.
“The new field house provides modern spaces and amenities to elevate all Scorpions teams and gives students access to new educational opportunities related to athletics,” said David Schmidt, LEED AP BD+CDLR Group Senior Associate.
“Delivering the new field house to the Desert Edge High School community adds an important asset that will enhance its athletic program,” said Tyler Shupe, Project Director for McCarthy’s Education Services group. “This project benefitted from a highly collaborative and creative project team, which has worked together in the past, and came together again to ensure the goals were achieved for the benefit of the Scorpions and students at Desert Edge.”   
The $3.29-million project was funded through a voter-approved bond election in November 2015. The architect on the project was DLR Group, an integrated design firm delivering architecture, engineering, interiors, planning and building optimization for new construction, renovation and adaptive reuse.