Stadium project cutbacks required

Published 5:00 pm Wednesday, August 2, 2006

Oak Harbor sports fans will see a leaner stadium built at Oak Harbor High School.

The project is approximately $600,000 over budget. To make up the gap, school officials are looking at making $100,000 in cuts and tapping into other funding sources to cover the shortfall.

Rick Schulte, superintendent of schools, said the cuts can be made without affecting the quality of the facility.

“I can find things that won’t have a noticeable impact on the substance of the building,” Schulte said. He didn’t have a hard list of cuts yet, but they could include things like nixing the vinyl coating on the chain-link fence. He said eliminating the coating would save the school district approximately $30,000.

The list of cuts will be worked into the school district’s capital projects fund that the school board is scheduled to approve Aug. 28.

Schulte had originally recommended making the $100,000 worth of cuts during an early July school board meeting. However, school board members decided to increase the budget to make up the funding gap. Members wanted to ensure a high quality stadium is built for the community.

School board member Kathy Jones said it was best to scale back the project to be good stewards of the taxpayers money. She added that there will still be enough money to build a stadium that will meet people’s expectations.

Several people attended the meeting asking about possible reductions to the stadium.

Schulte said four people spoke asking about how possible cuts, such as reducing storage space and eliminating locker rooms, would affect the stadium.

School officials have seen costs for the athletic facility increase. Those increases are attributed to dramatic jumps in the cost of construction materials and the lack of competitive bids that have plagued other school districts in the region.

The new stadium, which is currently budgeted at $7.759 million, is funded by a $6.5 million bond voters approved last November and a $500,000 donation by the Rotary Club. That amount doesn’t take into account the upcoming cuts.

To make up the remaining shortfall, the school district is expected to use money it receives from the Department of Defense Supplemental Aid. The school district receives between $329,000 and $350,000 each year and that money goes to fund capital projects.

Schulte said the costs could go higher or lower in coming months as the facility is designed.

The project is scheduled to go out to bid in October with construction set to begin sometime around the beginning of the year.

The new stadium is expected to be complete by the beginning of the 2007 school year.

It will provide a new place for varsity football and soccer games. The current Memorial Stadium, with its uneven field and portable bleachers, isn’t suitable for post season play.

The main, temporary bleachers have been pulled from Memorial Stadium. Schulte said the school district rents them on a monthly basis and they should be installed in time for the upcoming fall athletic season.

Jones added that school board members and administrators are willing to visit community groups to provide them updates on the stadium project. She said information on the stadium project will also be advertised on Wildcat TV.