Waitsburg Field House Planning Underway

WAITSBURG – In a workshop prior to their regular July 12 meeting, the Waitsburg School Board, along with other administrators, staff, and community members, met with architects to go over preliminary plans for a new field house at the WHS football field.

The work session included a review of preliminary design elements, as well as discussion on the placement of the new facility at the complex, according to Board Chairman Ross Hamann.

“We spent several hours in the work session and reviewed multiple potential elements that will go into the design, such as restrooms, concessions, team meeting rooms and storage,” Hamann said.

Colter Mohney, the facilities and maintenance supervisor for the Waitsburg School District, described the agreed upon location as being north of the baseball field bleachers near the track. This location was agreed upon by all in attendance.

“All participants were in agreement that the location of the current field house is an obstruction, in that it is right in the middle of an open area and does not allow for maximizing the available field space for students,” Hamann said.

The field house is being funded by the recently passed capital projects bond, which was passed last November. A field house was a top priority for the bond if it passed, according to Mohney. There is also a gift from an alumnus and community member for the sole purpose of building the field house.

While the funding for the field house may have been recently procured, planning for a new structure has been ongoing for the last 20 years, according to Hamann.

“Other attempts to accomplish this project were unable to raise the significant amount of money required to put in new bathrooms and meet modern construction and ADA codes,” Hamann explained. “After in-depth input sessions from the community and board of directors over the last five years, a new field house was identified as very high on the list of improvements for the school district.”

The process going forward includes the architect, which is architectural firm Design West, providing design plans to the board. This would likely take place in September, which would then be followed by bidding on the project in January 2018. Groundbreaking would then take place later that spring. Mohney estimated that the construction could be completed by the summer of 2018 at earliest.