A new era of College of Lake County Athletics is taking shape.
Construction is officially underway on CLC's new baseball and softball complex, a transformational project scheduled to open for competition in spring 2027. While Lancers baseball and softball have called the Grayslake Campus home for more than five decades, the new complex represents something much larger than new playing surfaces. It will transform the experience of competing, training and gathering at CLC by creating a true collegiate home for both programs.
"For more than 50 years, our baseball and softball programs have competed on this campus, and there is a tremendous amount of history connected to these fields," said Bradley Unger, Director of Athletics. "What we are building now takes the next step. This isn't simply about giving our student-athletes a new field. It's about creating a true collegiate home, with dedicated team spaces, meeting rooms, on-site athletic training, technology and amenities that support our student-athletes from the moment they arrive until the final out. Just as importantly, we're creating an environment where our families, fans and community can experience Lancers Athletics in an entirely new way."
The new complex has been designed around the complete student-athlete and game-day experience. In addition to new baseball and softball competition fields, the facility will include dedicated locker rooms and team meeting spaces, an on-site athletic training room, concessions and restrooms, rooftop spectator seating overlooking the action, and technology supporting live streaming, video replay and player development. Even details such as heated dugouts will provide Lancer student-athletes with greater comfort during the cold early weeks of the northern Illinois spring season.
Together, those amenities represent a significant evolution from the facilities that have served generations of Lancers.
For Head Softball Coach Hannah Clark, the project is an investment that reaches far beyond the student-athletes who will take the field when the complex opens.
"We are incredibly excited to see the addition of the new sports complex and what it will mean for the future of CLC Athletics," Clark said. "It is an investment in every athlete who wears the Lancers uniform. For our current student-athletes, it gives them a place they can be proud to call home and an environment that matches the work they put in every day. For the athletes who come after them, it creates a foundation for bigger dreams, greater opportunities, and a legacy that will continue to grow. We aren't just building a facility; we're building the future of CLC Athletics."
Construction progress is already highly visible on campus. Foundations and structural elements of the complex are beginning to transform the site, giving student-athletes, coaches and the College community their first tangible look at a facility that has been years in the making.
College and Athletics representatives recently visited the construction site to see that progress firsthand and recognize an important milestone in the project.
For Head Baseball Coach Heath Cummings, who once competed at CLC himself, the new complex connects the program's history with its future.
"What a great time to be a baseball player at CLC," Cummings said. "As a former student-athlete, I remember being drawn to the College by legendary Coach Gene Hansen and by the reputation of our baseball program and facility. CLC baseball has a rich history, and this new complex gives us an opportunity to build on that tradition. It will be a tremendous recruiting asset and create an outstanding experience for our student-athletes, coaches, families and fans."
The impact will extend beyond recruiting.
The new complex will give CLC Athletics greater opportunities to create an engaging game-day environment for students, employees, families, alumni and community members through smart-park technology. Enhanced spectator areas, concessions and new technology will allow Lancer home contests to become more than games, they can become campus and community events.
For prospective student-athletes, the facility will also demonstrate CLC's commitment to providing a collegiate athletics experience that complements the College's academic opportunities. Dedicated spaces for teams, athletic training and player development will allow coaches to support their programs in ways that extend well beyond competition.
And, for former Lancers who competed on these fields over the past five decades, the complex will carry forward a history that was built long before construction began.
The fields may be new. The tradition is not.
When the first pitch is thrown in spring 2027, Lancers baseball and softball will begin the next chapter of that history, not simply with new fields, but with a home designed around the student-athletes who compete on them and the community that supports them.
The dirt, concrete and steel visible today are more than signs of construction. They are the foundation of the next era of Lancers Athletics.
Spring 2027. A new home. A new standard.
