With the phase II grand opening of Fargo Parks Sports Center at the Sanford Sports Complex, it’s been a monumental year for Fargo residents, and really, all North Dakota athletes. Led by JLG Architects and McGough Construction, the nearly 400,000-square-foot facility doesn’t favor a singular sport, more like every sport under the sun across this Midwestern prairie.
Sun, Rain or Snow
With extreme temperature swings that seem to blow in with the wind, Fargo Park Sports Center is a sanctuary of active, indoor space that keeps residents at play all year-long. The facility sets a high-performance benchmark in multi-use community recreation, now home to a variety of indoor sports, community activities, sports therapy and training, regional tournaments, and special events.
Fargo Parks Sports Center Phase I:
The first phase of the Fargo Parks Sports Center opened its doors on May 29, 2024. This initial phase, designed by JLG Architects with McGough Construction, totaled approximately 290,000 square feet. This first phase created a home for Sanford Sports Academy basketball and volleyball programming, along with a multi-use indoor turf field, four hardwood courts with cross courts, a championship court and second-floor sky box, community and meeting rooms, food and beverage services, a sport shop, Fargo Park District staff offices, a Midco-sponsored lounge and 350-meter three-lane track, and the Sanford Sports Performance gym.
The Sports Center’s 95,000-square-foot indoor turf field features an elevated 350-meter three-lane walking track with strategically placed windows to outdoor horizon views, giving walkers a destination point around every corner. The multi-use field house offers an advanced turf system and adaptable field space for football, soccer, lacrosse, rugby, and baseball, including pitching/batting cages and tilt-and-roll bleachers for spectator events.
Fargo Parks Sports Center Phase II:
Phase II added six indoor pickleball courts, four additional hardwood courts, an indoor playground, six party rooms, a tournament room, and additional meeting rooms. Completion also opened the doors to the Sports Center’s IcePlex, offering two sheets of ice with enclosed spectator seating and an upper-level arcade. Each rink has become the home ice to competing hockey programs—Fargo Angels and Fargo Youth Hockey—now neighbors enjoying the modern facility and major upgrade from their prior aging arenas.
With the opening of Phase II, the Sports Center offers unobstructed views from one end of the facility to the other. “The open central spine brings natural, diffused light and energy to the design, giving guests a clear visual into all of the activity zones,” said JLG Architects’ Ty Pritchard. JLG’s design ensured the first-floor community space and corridor remained visually open with a ceiling-mounted second-floor design. This design eliminates the need for beams on the main level and provides athletes and fans simplified wayfinding to ease circulation during tournaments. Even with simultaneous soccer, hockey, pickleball, and volleyball tournaments underway, this facility ensures visitors will never get lost in the crowds.
“Designing one of the region’s largest multi-sport-focused buildings has been really exciting,” said Pritchard. “Understanding the history of the prairie and how it was formed by glaciers became our inspiration. We envisioned the mass of the glaciers, the fracturing of ice, and the process of melting to design an expansive façade that shifts through perforated vertical panels for diffused daylight and striated patterns. These patterns mimic the texture of glaciers as they moved across our landscape. To bring warmth into the building, we created well-lit gathering areas, or ‘campfire-inspired’ moments for community throughout– all created with the idea to bring people together.”
Powerful Partnerships
The Fargo Parks Sports Center is located on 123 acres known as the Sanford Sports Complex at 6100 38th St. S. in Fargo, ND. This partnership is not limited to land use, including a 25,000-square-foot tenant partnership with Sanford Sports and Sanford Health, one of the project’s major donors.
Within Fargo Parks Sports Center, Sanford Sports Performance contributes state-of-the-art athletic training academies, hydrotherapy, sports performance, a hydration station, and Sanford Sports Physical Therapy spaces. Services include individualized training on multiple sport surfaces and scenarios, with options for turf, water, hardwood, a plyometrics gym, and sprint track. Sanford Sports Performance also brings a 360-degree motion capture to evaluate athletes’ movements in a timelapse.
Here, Sanford Sports Performance, Sanford Sports Academy, and Sanford Sports Physical Therapy members and patients have access to designated Sanford Sports Academy courts, eight physical therapy treatment rooms, a 2,213-square-foot physical therapy gym, therapy pools, an underwater treadmill, a 7,903-square-foot strength and conditioning space, expanded locker rooms, indoor turf field, sprint lanes, and Sanford Orthopedics & Sports Medicine athletic training services.
A Regional Game-Changer
With both phases now complete, the Fargo Parks Sports Center, owned by Fargo Park District, addresses a critically unmet need for indoor recreation for Fargo and its surrounding communities. Basing its design on a 2015 Greenplay study, JLG Architects worked with Fargo Park District to develop the facility’s master plan and schematic design.
“It was incredibly rewarding to work alongside Fargo Park District and Sanford Health to create a space that furthers athletic performance and year-round physical health,” said Todd Medd, JLG Architects. “In this climate, physical activity and exposure to natural daylight are critical to the health, well-being, and growth of our community.”
“This project was an all-hands-on-deck effort, uniting the expertise of JLG’s Sports and Healthcare Studios,” said Tom Betti, JLG Architects. “We were honored to help Fargo Park District meet the rising demand for indoor turf, hockey, and hard-court facilities. The Fargo Parks Sports Center is more than a building—it’s a game-changer for the region. It’s a future-ready hub of economic strength and regional resilience, offering endless opportunities for program growth, year-round health, tournament play, and bringing people together in meaningful ways.”
