Lincoln Prep making progress on football facilities to be ready for fall
Lincoln Prep’s new football stands are ready for the season, while other athletic projects continue to progress. Leader photo by Matt Belinson
GRAMBLING — You can’t help but hear the ringing of drills in your ears as you walk around the campus of Lincoln Preparatory School.
It’s a welcomed sound for Gordan Ford, executive director of Lincoln Prep, as it represents the steady progress the school is making on its athletic facility projects surrounding its football stadium.
After spending the 2023 season with temporary bleachers, the Panthers have their permanent stands in place and ready for this fall, seating close to 750 fans including the Lincoln Prep band.
With handicap-accessible ramps on both sides, Ford said the permanent grandstands will be among the best in the parish in terms of layout and functionality.
“We’ll have our band seated down at the far end, so fans aren’t getting around them and then we’ll have a threeroom press box, coaches boxes on both sides and an officials box in the middle,” Ford said.
The grandstand is far from the last of the upgrades Lincoln Prep will have completed by the start of the 2024 season according to Ford.
Fans will now enter by the south endzone at a new ticket office/ concession stand, scheduled to be completed by the end of July. The entrance used for the 2023 season will now be a vehicle-only entrance for the on- site ambulance.
Once through the ticket area, fans will either make a right to make their way to the grandstands or go left and walk along a new sidewalk lining the new eight-lane track over to the visitors’ sideline.
But perhaps the most noticeable project coming along is Lincoln Prep’s fieldhouse, sitting behind the south endzone.
Ford said the twostory building will be the home base for the football program, housing junior varsity and varsity locker rooms. The JV space will hold 28 lockers, while the varsity space holds 55 lockers.
The design is inspired by Wossman High School’s Pat Williams Field House, including an indoor practice field, weight room, training room, coaches’ offices, and alumni suites.
“We took the same architects and took the plans they already built at Wossman and changed a few things around,” Ford said. “The footprint itself is identical to what they have at Wossman.”
The first floor of the field house is scheduled to be completed by the end of the summer, according to Ford, while the second floor’s completion date is still to be determined.
When the second floor is finished, alumni will be able to view the Panthers’ games from an observation deck connecting to a hospitality room that sits dead center overlooking the field.
“The building may look off-center but it’s actually to where the observation deck is dead center looking through the goal post,” Ford said.
Lincoln Prep’s home opener is scheduled for Sept. 13 against Magnolia School of Excellence.
