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An Editorial Opinion of The Selma Times-Journal

The newly refurbished Ralph “Shug” Jordan Track and Field at Memorial Stadium is going to put Selma back on the map in the track and field community.

Earlier this year, the city approved the $1 million project to get rebuild the track, including repairing the track’s foundation to installing a new surface on top decked out in Selma High School colors.

The new track looks fantastic. It features everything that a state of the art track facility needs. That includes the 400-meter track surrounding the football playing surface, a high jump approach and mats, pits and a runway for the long jump and triple jump, a proper area for discuss, the pole vaulting approach and mats and the javelin approach, which funnels on the outfield of the Bloch Park baseball field.

Many track facilities don’t have all of that. Many of them have spaces surrounding their football field, but few have all of the dedicated areas that you need for a proper track meet.

Historically, Selma has been one of the sites of the Alabama High School Athletic Association state meets over the years, and it’s likely going to be back in the rotation in the next few years.

The next step is to get the stadium seating area back up to par. That means fixing leaks that are causing damage to the offices, locker rooms, concession stands and storage rooms.

That will be an expensive repair, but it needs to be done if the city wants to continue hosting events like this. That could bring hundreds if not thousands of people to the area for events like this.

Memorial Stadium is not the only area where repairs are needed, but it is a great place to start and build momentum as we head into the future.