After a decade of battling with its neighbors, Edgewood High School in Madison, Wis., finally obtained approval for updates to its athletics facilities.
According to The Cap Times, Goodman Athletics Complex will be expanded to accommodate roughly 1,200 spectators. School officials will also add a sound system, permanent restrooms, locker rooms, office space, concessions and a ticketing office. Despite angling for sports lighting, the facility will not be permitted to install field lighting and the newly installed sound system must be held to 80 decibels from just five speakers.
It has taken 10 years for Edgewood High School to scrape out these allowances, as nearby residents opposed renovations that would disrupt their neighborhood. In some cases, those oppositions grew to lawsuits, but this week Madison’s Plan Commission finally, unanimously approved the project.
Edgewood High School must adhere to some rules in exchange for approval on the renovations, including limiting athletics events to daytime start times and not using amplified sound during practices.
“We value the transparent communication that has taken place throughout this process and intend to maintain a positive, constructive working relationship as good neighbors who respect one another’s needs and hopes for the future,” said two nearby neighborhood associations and the high school in a joint statement.
Several neighbors advocated for the school to build a new athletics facility at a remote site to avoid the impact on the residential area. They claimed making renovations to Goodman Athletics Complex would cause “degradation of quality of life for this neighborhood” and set a precedent for “future institutional requests to increase noise and light pollution.”
As a part of the compromises on both sides, the City of Madison promised to create a report one year following the completion of the renovation. That report will summarize potential issues for future additions and assess the impact of the current project on the neighborhood.
“We have come a long way from the long nights of feverish debate, acrimony and lawsuits that characterized this issue in years past,” Wisconsin governor Tony Evers wrote. “A review one year after the improved facility is in use is vitally important in that it would provide accountability and thereby allow for the burgeoning trust between the two parties to be verified and substantiated.”
