Nelson Field's $6.8M Baseball Rebuild Is Permitted: What Austin ISD Is Building on Berkman Drive

Austin ISD has a building permit in hand to rebuild the baseball side of Nelson Field, its Berkman Drive stadium in north Austin. The City of Austin issued the $6.8 million permit on Nov. 4, 2026, for new turf, lighting, two batting cages and work on both dugouts, according to ATX Things' read of city permit filings.

That is the first piece of a much larger plan. Austin ISD's 2022 bond page lists $25 million for the whole Nelson Field site, and the state filing for this permit calls it "Phase 1."

What did the city actually permit at Nelson Field?

Permit 2026-145374 BP is a commercial "Addition and Remodel" at 7105 Berkman Drive, issued Nov. 4 and showing Active in our records. Its description reads: renovation and addition to two existing dugouts, new lighting and new batting cages, and replacement of the field turf, 2,735 square feet in all. The listed contractor is Cadence McShane Construction.

The permit text says "lightning." Read it as lighting. The state filing says "new baseball field lighting," and Austin ISD's own bond page lists "lights" in the baseball scope.

Is work already under way?

Possibly some of it. A separate temporary electrical permit at the same address, issued Oct. 6, covers installing new sports light pole foundations and poles. That is a city record of a different permit, and it points to the lighting piece starting before the big building permit came through. It doesn't tell us how far along anything is.

If you drive past and see equipment on the baseball side, that is consistent with the filings. We can't confirm it from here.

Who plays at Nelson Field?

Nelson Field hosts baseball, football and track and field, and serves as the home stadium for several Austin ISD high schools, including Eastside, LBJ, Navarro and Northeast, according to the Houston Chronicle's May 26 report on the state filing. The district's own athletics page describes an 8,200-seat football stadium and a baseball field with seating for 300.

The Chronicle quoted Northeast head baseball coach Javon Rigsby on the old setup: "Our infield had grass grown in, we didn't have a fence on our practice field, nothing." He said the conditions made it hard to keep kids interested in playing there. That is one coach's account as reported by the Chronicle, not a district finding.

Where does the $25 million figure come from, and how does it fit?

Austin ISD voters approved a $2.44 billion bond on Nov. 8, 2022. The district's bond page for "Central Athletic Facilities" lists Nelson Field with a total project budget of $25,000,000. It says that budget includes renovations to the grandstands, field house, press box, restrooms and concessions, plus artificial turf, seating and lighting for the baseball field. The district names Stantec and Cadence McShane as the architecture and construction team, with Vanir STV as program manager.

So the $6.8 million permit is the baseball piece, roughly a quarter of the stated budget. Beyond that, we are inferring. The district hasn't published, in anything we found, what Phase 2 covers, when it starts, or whether this $6.8 million comes entirely out of bond money. The TDLR filing says only "public funds."

One more caution on the district's own page: its Nelson Field project list shows a "Repair/Replace Turf" item at 100 percent complete, with data dated Sept. 12, 2023. It doesn't say which field that turf was on, and it predates this permit. We are not treating it as a statement about the baseball field.

What should you know if you live nearby or have a kid on a team?

• Schedules: We did not find a published construction schedule or any notice about spring baseball games moving. If your player is on one of the stadium schools, ask the coach directly.
• Public meetings: The district says its Campus Architectural Team for central athletic facilities meets in public, with up to five minutes of comment per meeting. Dates are on the district's 2022 Bond Calendar.
• ZIP code: Records disagree. The state filing says 78723, Visit Austin says 78752, and the district's own project page says 78704. The district's property is on Berkman Drive in north Austin; we used the state filing's ZIP for the permit lookup below.

What are we watching next?

Three things: whether Austin ISD files a second phase for the grandstands and field house, whether a construction schedule or notice goes up for the baseball side, and whether the temporary electrical permit for the light poles is followed by a permanent one. We'll keep checking the filings. For more public-record scoops, see our look at the Asian American Resource Center pavilion permit and the John Trevino Jr. Metro Park bid, and browse the permit database at Zabalist.

FAQ

How much is the Nelson Field baseball project? The city permit, issued Nov. 4, 2026, lists $6,800,000. The state filing lists the same estimate. Austin ISD's bond page lists $25,000,000 for the whole Nelson Field site.

What is being built? New baseball turf, new lighting, two new batting cages, and renovations and additions to two dugouts, per the state filing and the city permit text.

When will it be finished? The state filing lists completion on Feb. 15, 2027. The district hasn't published a schedule we could find, so treat that date as the filing's, not a promise.

Which schools use Nelson Field? Eastside, LBJ, Navarro and Northeast use it as a home stadium, according to the Houston Chronicle's May 2026 report.

Who is the contractor? Cadence McShane Construction is the contractor on the city permit and is named on the district's bond page as part of the construction team.

Sources: City of Austin building permit 2026-145374 BP and 2026-127102 EP via ATX Things' permit records (Austin permits table last synced Nov. 7, 2026); Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, project TABS2026020903, read Nov. 7, 2026; Austin ISD 2022 Bond Program, Central Athletic Facilities page and Nelson Field project page, read Nov. 7, 2026; Austin ISD Athletics, Nelson Field page, read Nov. 7, 2026; Houston Chronicle, "'Kids don't want to be out there': Austin sports complex begins $25M overhaul," May 26, 2026. Place details were not checked against Google Places this run; none are stated beyond what these sources say. Hero and inline images are AI illustrations, not photos of Nelson Field.