New era dawns for county athletics with facility upgrades

It’s out with the old and in with the new for many schools across Tallapoosa and Elmore counties. A chunk of the schools either refurbish or start from ground zero with top-of-the-line equipment for their sports teams.  

I’ll start with my neck of the woods here in Tallapoosa County with the construction of the new Benjamin Russell High School set to debut in January 2026. The school itself is going to be a top-of-the-line building with state-of-the-art amenities for students, with an added emphasis on student-athletes. One of the major additions comes in the form of a new track, which will be the first of its kind in Alexander City. There will be a new practice field smack dab in the middle of it, where the Kirk Johnson era at Benjamin Russell will really get to hit the ground running.