On Saturday, Public Schools of Robeson County opened up new state of the art multipurpose buildings at two of its high schools: St. Pauls and Purnell Swett.

The schools held ribbon cutting ceremonies to reveal the 17,500 square foot facilities to the public. The buildings are designed to benefit all students, but the upgrades for athletics are notable.

Each of the facilities has a 175-by-50-foot turf section for football teams to get some practice in during poor weather. Adjacted to the turf is a weight area with an impressive 16 full racks.

There is a training room. There are two partitions that can separate the turf into three separate sections and 4 partitions that separate the weight room from the turf. Each area is considered a class space.

The buildings also have large locker rooms for the football teams and a film study area.

Public Schools of Robeson County thanked the community and local leaders for pitching in to make these facilties happen. There are plans to build them at the other Robeson County high schools as well: Fairmont, Lumberton, and Red Springs.