The Bismarck Public Schools Athletic Complex is located adjacent to Legacy High School in north Bismarck, ND. The complex provides accommodations for football, soccer, track and field, baseball, softball, and tennis for all schools in the Bismarck District. The facility was constructed in phases over multiple years.

Apex Engineering Group was pleased to partner with Bismarck Public Schools to effectively design and construct the electrical components at the Athletic Complex. The electrical design for the complex included two concession buildings with restrooms, a maintenance/restroom building, as well as individual grandstands and press boxes for the football field, baseball field, and softball field. The main concession/restroom building was constructed during phase one and serves as the power and communications source for the entire complex.

The power distribution system included two separate systems: one for general electrical items, and a second for site and sport field lighting. This split allowed the owner to take advantage of special utility rates available for site lighting.

A fiber optic cable and copper telecommunications backbone was installed to interconnect the entire athletic complex with service originating in Legacy High School. With phased construction, it was important to ensure adequate spare underground conduits were installed during early phases for later use.

Sports field lighting systems were designed for the football/soccer field, baseball field, and softball field which all utilize a turf playing surface. Additional capacity was included in the distribution and controls system to accommodate future field lighting for the grass softball and baseball fields. In addition, the walking path and parking lot lighting was designed with motion-sensing dimming controls.

Sound systems were designed for the football/soccer field, baseball and softball fields. These systems provide coverage to the grandstand areas with inputs from microphones, audio inputs within the press boxes, and from wireless microphones that could be utilized on the fields. The football field/track system includes speakers with multiple zones to allow for specific coverage depending on the type of event. Special care was taken during the design and layout to limit the amount of sound transmitting to surrounding neighborhoods.