The Grafton Bearcats will soon have a new field to call home. Thanks to the Friends of Grafton High School Baseball Organization, which led the fundraising efforts for the new field, Grafton High School has $1.25 million to spend on the construction of the Bearcats’ new baseball field. Kym Gillespie, a member of the fundraiser group, says the support of the community has been the key to advancing the project.
“Everyone has been super supportive, the administration was supportive, all of our local volunteers really stepped up and asked us what we needed, and we just continued to meet with them and go forward,” said Gillespie.
In the spring of 2023, when the idea of a new field was just in the brainstorming phase, the main focus was on safety. The Bearcats’ old field hadn’t seen any major reconstruction since the 80s. It was time for a change. The new plans for the field included safety netting, a backstop, a new scoreboard, and new lights. Within that list of additions includes a turf field, something Grafton High’s assistant baseball coach, John Gouzd says will make a huge difference. [WDTV]
Will Snider High School be getting its own football stadium? If the proposal first presented to the Fort Wayne Community Schools board on Monday night comes to fruition then the answer is ‘yes’ – with the stadium projected to be ready by the fall of 2026.
The 2024-25 District-Wide Equipment and Facility Improvement Project, with a total price tag of $55 million, was presented at Monday’s meeting. Thirty million of those funds are tabbed for an athletic facilities improvement project at Snider High School. The athletic facility improvements include:
- Construction of a 4,000 seat stadium and press box
- Construction of a vented rubber running track and synthetic turf
- Construction of additional parking
- Expansion of existing physical education building
- Construction of new concession and restroom building
- Relocation of tennis courts to Lane Middle School
- Relocation of existing grandstand bleachers from Snider to North Side H.S. for additional visitor seating [WANE]
Thanks to the financial support of Central College's passionate alumni, fans and friends, more upgrades are underway in the college's A.N. Kuyper Athletics Complex this summer.
Workers recently removed the football turf from Ron and Joyce Schipper Stadium and are installing new FieldTurf artificial turf. New goalposts are also being installed to the football-only field.
Meanwhile, a new, expanded Daktronics video screen replacing the original stadium videoboard and a much-needed reconstruction of the college tennis courts are part of the comprehensive upgrade plan.
Total cost for the three projects exceeds $2 million. Vice president for athletics Eric Van Kley said additional support is needed to complete the upgrades. [Central College]
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