Amid Sports Explosion, School Board Seeks New Training Facility

The Hamilton School Board approved funding to explore the possibility of erecting a multipurpose training facility at the high school.

The board, which met for a regular meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 1, approved spending $4,000 to contract for civil engineering and negotiate a contract to develop a service road relocation behind the school.

Public relations coordinator Denise Lindberg said the plan was still tentative, but the board has recognized a need for more training space.

She said that since 1994, the district has renovated various schools nine times. "We haven't added any athletic space in that time - we put a priority on the classroom space - but the number of students involved in sports has exploded since the 1990s," Lindberg said.

She said that at one point the district looked into the costs of building a field house, but it determined that would not be feasible.

School administrators are inviting community members and faculty to attend a facility advisory committee meeting on Oct. 16 to discuss the project.

If bids for the project are low enough, the district may be able to build the facility using its fund balance and existing budget without raising property taxes, Lindberg said.

If the new training facility were built, Lindberg said she expects it would still be open to the community for use. District residents can currently pay $10 per month to use the high school's fitness center, which includes elliptical machines, treadmills and The board is next expected to meet on Oct. 21.

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