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The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Milwaukee Public Schools will break ground Thursday on a $5.7 million athletic stadium at Vincent High School on the city's northwest side, part of a plan to spend about $11 million on district athletic fields in the next few years.
The new complex will feature synthetic turf for football and soccer and an eight-lane running track suitable for Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association events, shot put and discus throwing stations and bleachers for 1,200 spectators among other amenities, the district said in a news release.
The project is expected to be completed in spring 2019.
MPS Operations Chief Wendell Willis said the project is in keeping with MPS' strategy to "educate the whole child, redefine the MPS experience and rethink secondary schools," and its efforts to ensure equitable access to facilities for all students.
"When you talk about the high school experience, for many that's extracurriculars," Willis said. "We want our students to have the same experiences everyone else has. We want students to be as well-rounded as possible."
The new facility will allow Vincent to host WIAA tournament soccer, football and track competitions, as well as MPS conference relays and outdoor track meets, and to spread its soccer and football games across the city, said Bill Molbeck, MPS' commissioner of athletics. It will also take pressure off of the district's three other stadiums: Pulaski High School and the free-standing South Stadium on the south side, and Custer High School on the north, he said.
Other amenities will include outdoor lighting, home and away team rooms, a press box, locker room for game officials, restrooms, a concession stand, ticket window and new scoreboard.
The project has been awarded to Nicholas & Associates Inc.
MPS, which is slashing spending next year to close a $30-million-plus budget gap, would fund the project with construction dollars carried from past years and a small slice of a $38 million bond issue floated last year to address deteriorating facilities.
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