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Tormenta FC Releases Stadium Renderings

By AARON CRANFORD - aaron.cranford@uslsoccer.com, 06/30/17, 2:45PM EDT

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Club Owner and President Van Tassell provides early look at potential soccer-specific venue in Statesboro

With eyes on a potential move to the United Soccer League’s new third-division league, South Georgia Tormenta FC unveiled early renderings of a possible soccer-specific stadium to be built in Statesboro, Georgia, on Friday.

Tormenta FC Owner and President Darin Van Tassell revealed intentions to explore the possibilities of a move from the Premier Development League – the top amateur league in North America – to the USL’s Division III in May. Since then, Van Tassell has been busy expanding the club’s ownership group and researching plans for a new stadium should Tormenta FC join the third-division league.

“As we continue to explore the possibilities of a move to the USL’s Division III, a key for us is the complex,” Van Tassell told USLD3.com. “What we want to do is marry high-level professional soccer with a top-notch facility and soccer-specific venue.”

The stadium would be built next to The Clubhouse on Old Register Road and would seat more than 5,000 people while having the ability to expand to a capacity of more than 10,000. While serving as a soccer-specific venue, the stadium would also have the ability to host other sporting and entertainment events.

Distinguished construction firm New South Construction Company – which helped build the new Atlanta Braves Suntrust Park and many other sports related venues– would oversee the development of the new complex. New South Construction Company is led by President Huntly Gordon, who has more than 30 years of construction experience.

“We see this project as not just a one-of-a-kind stadium but as a destination venue, which is well designed for the specifics of a unique soccer experience,” Gordon told USLD3.com. “The facility has a very talented architectural firm in ThenDesign Architecture, led by Adam Parris, who has really pushed the entire envelop that goes with this venue. From future players to the fan experience, this complex will be state of the art.”

ThenDesign Architecture (TDA), originally founded as Huston Associates in 1951 and currently based in Willoughby, Ohio, has been in conversation with Van Tassell for years and started development of the conceptual masterplan for the complex in January of 2017.

TDA designed Highmark Stadium, one of the company’s many unique projects that currently serves as the home for the USL’s Pittsburgh Riverhounds.

“We are designing an office building that will go in tandem with the stadium and house the Tormenta FC locker rooms, facilities and offices, but it will also provide 20,000 square feet of office space,” project architect Adam Parris told USLD3.com. “With that being said, there’s also some retail space that is built into the stadium. There’s a team shop and several other small retail spaces that can be used for a coffee shop, for example, or a small office.

“The idea is to not have a standalone stadium that can only be used for games and events.”

Currently competing at Erk Russell Athletic Park on the campus of Georgia Southern University, Tormenta FC expects to reveal more details on its ownership group and the potential stadium in the coming weeks.


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