Two area school districts have plans in the works to upgrade or construct athletic facilities.
In Mason County, the board of education has given the go-ahead for a new turf football field at the present high school football facility .
Funding for the project includes 70 percent or $700,000 in state-provided restricted facilities funding and the remaining 30 percent from funds placed in escrow seven years ago for future use, according to information from Superintendent Rick Ross. That makes the project’s total costs about $1 million. No current operating money was allocated for the project, he said.
“The field will get a ton of usage including football grades 2-12, boys and girls soccer grades 6-12, marching band grades 6-12, cheerleading grades 6-12, baseball and softball (practice when fields are wet) grades 6-12, PE class grades 9-12, bowl game fund-raisers, Band Classic fund-raisers, and other community uses,” Ross said.
Annual maintenance costs associated with the current surface, including weeding, seeding, and stripping will be eliminated, he said.
“The lifespan is around 15 years. Even after that period of time, the foundation and irrigation systems for cooling will not need replaced so the replacement expense is reduced,” Ross said.
The superintendent likened the impact of the improved field to that of the Fieldhouse, Mason County’s iconic basketball facility.
“Similar to the Fieldhouse, this facility will benefit the community for generations. Our kids deserve this just as much as the hundreds of other schools who already have this resource,” he said.
The project still needs approval form the Kentucky Department of education so no information on when the project might get underway was available although Ross said say he expects the field to be ready for use in September 2022.
At Augusta Independent School, plans are underway to build a new gymnasium to replace the 100-year-old facility which currently serves as home to basketball and volleyball for the K-12 school.
According to plans presented to Augusta City Council earlier this week, the new gymnasium would be located in the Frankfort Street side of the school campus. District officials asked council members to transfer 4,000 square feet of right of way of way to the district to allow construction, requiring Frankfort Street to become a one-way street. Council did not take action on the request.
In its October meeting, the board approved a 25-year bond issue for $5.1 million. The estimated cost is $5,158,445 and funds are coming from the School Facilities Construction Commission, Facilities Support Program of Kentucky, and American Rescue Plan federal funds, officials said.
The current Augusta gymnasium opened in 1926 and is one of the oldest gyms currently in use in the state. It underwent extensive remodeling several years ago when an addition to the school was built. However, the gym floor is not regulation size (50-feet-by-84 feet) as modern gyms, it is several feet smaller (48-feet-by-79 feet), according to AIS Superintendent Lisa McCane.
“Although well maintained, the cost to retrofit the current gym with modern finishes and equipment would cost near the amount to build a new gym,” McCane said.
With essentially three schools housed in one building, gym time for all student activities is at a premium, McCane said, often meaning practice time for some sports can be held as late as 9 p.m.
Also, she said, a new gym will allow the district to build and develop existing athletic programs and be large enough to allow AIS to be included in the rotation to host District and All A tournaments, with increased seating capacity of 1,000.
“This will give us the home court advantage and generate more revenue from concessions,” McCane said.
The current gym will be used for instruction and extracurricular purposes once a new gym is built, McCane said. The district anticipates the new gym will be reserved for varsity teams with a few special games played in the old gym each season.
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