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A high school football program in the state of Alabama unveiled video of its recently completed athletic facility. The project is the result of a massive investment made in the relatively new school.
Athletes at Orange Beach Middle and High School are the beneficiaries of the new addition, which cost more than $46 million.
The Makos have been in existence for just five years. The school was established in 2020. The football team played its first ever game that fall, which it won against Shields (AL).
Facilities were not on par with others in the area at the beginning of that stint. Things have changed drastically in 2025.
Orange Beach High School football unveils $46 million facility.
The school’s football accounts reposted a before and after clip of the incredible transformation earlier this week. The area looks nothing like it did before!
#transformationtuesday Check out the transformation of Orange Beach High School’s brand new, state-of-the-art, athletic facility. What began as a grass lot now features, an 8-lane running track, track and field events, artificial turf stadium field, covered practice field,… pic.twitter.com/6aOFHBBLjv
— Sports Turf Company (@STCFieldBuilder) October 28, 2025
In place of open fields and parking lots are now a football field, track, covered practice facility, gym, basketball fieldhouse, and exercise science building.
Superintendent Randy Wilkes had the following to say about the project and its impact on students.
“When I came in, they asked me to do a quick evaluation of growth and enrollment and what the needs were… We are short on facilities, and we’ve got to have them… and, if we are going to do it, we are going to do it in a state-of-the-art fashion and that’s what we’ve done.
“A lot of these facilities we’ve not had before. We have track teams with nowhere to practice. We have cheerleaders that go to the elementary school to practice. We have wrestlers that don’t have a place to wrestle or practice. Today, we’ve got seven basketball teams that need to practice at a middle school type gym, but we are hosting the first round of volleyball state playoffs. There is no way that seven basketball teams and five volleyball teams can use that same facility. Right now, our weight room is in a storage unit where we’ve taken out the walls, and this is their second location in two years…
“Generations of student athletes and students will benefit from what the city has done and what the school board has done here.”
-Randy Wilkes
The facility received approval in October of 2023. Construction got underway the next month. It took about two years to complete.
It was worth the wait. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held in mid-October.
Two weeks later, the school provided a more in-depth look inside the venue alongside that initial before and after glimpse.
Nobody has it better than us! This facility is the best in the state! pic.twitter.com/UosMUKFeiM
— Orange Beach HS Football (@OrangeBeachFB) October 30, 2025
Who paid for the complex?
The Orange Beach High School superintendent says the football and athletic facility was funded by the city with no tax increase.
He also suggested that it will directly benefit 80% of the student body. It is more than just sports-minded. With that being said, athletes will be able to utilize the complex.
Major investments are being made in high school sports all over the country. Many are being seen in the Southeast.
Just down the road in Georgia, Buford High School unveiled a $62 million football stadium that would put most colleges to shame. A few hours south, a $25 million indoor facility was completed this fall – just in time for the state playoffs!
Orange Beach is the latest high school to upgrade. Alabama takes its high school football seriously. That is more than evident seeing this complex.