The last time Tormenta Stadium played host to a USL League One soccer game, a packed house celebrated the Tormenta FC franchise and the city winning its first professional title. Saturday night, the defending champions will play their first home game since that historic November 2022 night.
The Charlotte Independence will be at Tormenta Stadium Saturday for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff. Tormenta opened the season March 17 with a 1-0 win over North Carolina FC in Raleigh.
While a lot of dirt has been moved and infrastructure been put in place, Tormenta Stadium looks pretty much the same on the surface as it did four months ago. But that will change as the 2023 season progresses and beyond.
Team co-owner and Tormenta president Darin Van Tassell said preparation and construction of the full stadium complex will be ongoing throughout the season.
“I have learned a lot of patience through this whole process,” Van Tassell said. “I have learned how interconnected construction projects are between Tormenta, Georgia Southern University and the overall area. I’ve learned how disrupted supply chains affect everything. I’ve learned how great red clay is for packing and to build on, but how it takes four days to dry after a rain so you can work at a site again.”
When initial plans of building a soccer stadium were being formulated, Van Tassell and his development group always knew the site had to be more than just a place to watch sporting events. It needed to be a place for entertainment, music, shopping and dining. Even a place to live. It needed to be a center of vibrant activity at any time of the year.
When complete, the 5,300-seat stadium itself will look very much like the original drawings first unveiled in July 2017. While construction of the stadium itself is not a complicated or lengthy process, the prep work for the stadium and the whole complex must be completed as a whole before actual building can begin, Van Tassell said.
The stadium complex will include a three-story condominium for apartment living, a four-story building that will include a team room on the first floor, a restaurant will be the second story and a music venue will take up the third and fourth floors. Also, a walkway leading from The Clubhouse family entertainment center to the stadium will feature a series of small retail shops and, perhaps, a sub shop.
Van Tassell said he anticipates an 18-month timetable to get the full complex complete.
“While things may not be moving as quickly as I would like or had hoped, the project must be looked at in its entirety,” he said. “We must get it right and I’m confident we will. Along with Publix and the Eagles Corner Shopping Center, the development behind Publix, expansion of the Clubhouse, plans for housing, retail and offices across Old Register Road, we are creating a whole new section of Statesboro. It’s exciting.”