'We can do better' is theme for MCSD's proposed SPLOST athletics projects
Muscogee County School District Superintendent David Lewis shows images of a suburban Atlanta high school's football field and weight room to make a point during his public forums to explain his administration's request to renew a sales tax.
The McEachern High facilities in Cobb County resemble a small college. Although the district's plans are "not that grandiose," Lewis said, "We can do better."
Athletics is related to 25 percent of the proposed capital projects and 15 percent of the estimated $192,185,000 in revenue a renewed Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax would produce. If voters approve the March 17 SPLOST referendum, the 1 percent sales tax that expired Dec. 31 would return July 1 for another five years or until the dollar cap is reached.
Officials insist seeking better sports facilities isn't an extravagant pursuit.
"Athletics is nothing but an extension of the school day," Todd Stanfill, the system-wide athletics director, told the Ledger-Enquirer. "Coaches are teachers. A lot of times, you're getting things from a coach that you can't get in a classroom."
In fact, Lewis admits, some students attend school only to participate in athletics.
"I'm OK with that," he said during the Feb. 13 forum at the Columbus Museum. "I can't teach them if they don't come."
They will come to $29,275,000 in upgraded sports facilities if the SPLOST passes. Stanfill described what's at stake.
"We're not lagging behind in the coaching and the athlete aspect," he said. "Where we are lagging behind is in facilities. It's tough to ask a coach to compete on the football field when he can't get his football team in a room. But that's any sport. Our kids deserve the same advantages they are competing against. It's not fair to send them in unprepared, and that's kind of what we're doing."
Muscogee County School Board representative Frank Myers of District 8, who is campaigning against the SPLOST, said in an email to the Ledger-Enquirer, "The Muscogee County School District presently charges students to participate in athletic activities. This pay-to-play practice must end before taxpayers are asked to foot the bill for nearly $30 million in new and upgraded sports facilities."
The Ledger-Enquirer interviewed Stanfill and the school district's construction director Bobby Hecht last week to better understand the proposed projects related to athletics.
Hecht cautioned that all the dollar figures are estimates and based on today's prices.
The expenses often increase when the projects start years after they are planned, he said.
System-wide multisport complex
The school board has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Columbus Consolidated Government that would enable a sports complex to be constructed on south Columbus land.
The parcels comprise the closed Cusseta Road and Muscogee elementary schools as well as the land between them, which the city would give the school district as part of a land swap.
The proposed replacement school for Spencer High, a $56 million SPLOST project, also would be built there.
Here's an estimated breakdown of the proposed $11 million sports complex for system-wide use:
$7.7 million to build a stadium with artificial turf, field houses on both sides, a track and capacity for 4,000 fans, similar to Kinnett Stadium.
$2 million for parking.
$1 million for infrastructure.
$300,000 to build an artificial turf soccer field.
If the district has a third stadium to play football, Stanfill said, it could eliminate or greatly reduce the number of Thursday night games.
Last year, the district played 11 games on Thursdays.
The city-owned A.J. McClung Memorial Stadium has fewer available dates for the district because it is hosting more events there, Stanfill said, forcing the district to schedule more Thursday games.
Visiting teams are reluctant to play on Thursday as well, Stanfill said, because of the late-night returns home before a school day.
Plus, it means less revenue for Muscogee County schools because fewer visiting fans make the trip, he said.
Another stadium also would benefit middle school teams, Stanfill said.
"Currently, they play most of their games at the schools," he said. "Those fields are OK, but with turf (coming) at Kinnett and turf on this (proposed) stadium, it allows us to use those fields six days a week."
The project also would give the district a track other than Kinnett to host meets.
"It would allow us to not have to spread out track meets throughout the week," Stanfill said.
Hardaway's track isn't used for meets, he said, "because the meets would interfere with other spring sports practices and games going on at their school."
The added soccer field would enable the district to not rely on the city-owned Woodruff Farm Soccer Complex for its 32 high school teams (boys and girls, varsity and junior varsity), Stanfill said.
"They're gracious enough to let us play on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, but that doesn't always line up with when our competition wants to play," he said. "This would free us up and free their facility up, too."
The artificial turf at Kinnett and the proposed football stadium and soccer field would mean no rainouts for soccer and lacrosse games anymore, Stanfill said, and the concern about overusing a grass field also would be eliminated.
"We could play six days a week," he said.
As a result, combined with the upgrade at Kinnett, a new sports complex would better equip Columbus to host more state and regional sporting events, Stanfill said.
"It's a game changer," he said.
Stadium upgrade
Kinnett Stadium, located on Shaw High School's campus but used for district-wide activities, would receive upgrades totaling $3,175,000.
A $1,675,000 field house would include two locker rooms with showers and toilets for approximately 100 to 120 football players each, a dressing room for officials with showers and toilets, a medical training room and storage.
The current field house doesn't have showers or enough room for an entire football team to gather inside together.
So players dress in shifts or outside or they arrive and leave in uniform, Stanfill said.
"It's just not being a good host," he said.
Game officials also don't have a proper facility, Stanfill said.
"We basically have a broom closet for them," he said. "It works OK for the regular season, because all of our officials are local. But come playoff time, if I'm from north Georgia, and it's 70 degrees outside and I've just run up and down the football field for 2½ hours, I want to take a shower so I don't have to sit in the car like that for 2 or 3 hours."
The rest of the money, $1.5 million, would be spent on constructing a press box, concessions stand and restrooms on the west side, which is for visitors.
The home team concessions stand and restrooms on the east side would be renovated. Adding another press box would create more space in the current one, Stanfill said.
"Typically, a team would want to have two separate booths for their offensive and defensive coordinators, so you need four booths for that," he said.
"We've got a booth for officials, but they have to share a room with the announcers. Then we have a room with all the (scoreboard) equipment in it. That doesn't leave room for print media and television media.
"It works out fine if the weather is good, but we don't want to ask people to stand up on top of the roof in 40-degree weather or stand downstairs in the rain."
Already planned, approved and separate from the SPLOST is the estimated $700,000 conversion of the Kinnett field from grass to artificial turf, expected to be ready for the 2015 football season, Stanfill said. Soccer and lacrosse games also could be played on the field, he said.
Baseball, softball, other facilities
A total of $7.2 million would be spent on upgrading baseball and softball fields as well as other facilities for athletics at five schools.
Here's the estimated breakdown:
Columbus High -- $600,000
$300,000 to upgrade baseball field.
$300,000 to upgrade softball field.
Hardaway High -- $1 million
$500,000 to upgrade softball field.
$300,000 to upgrade practice field and track.
$200,000 to upgrade baseball field.
Jordan High -- $1.4 million
$800,000 to build softball field at corner of Johnson Elementary site.
$300,000 to upgrade baseball field.
$300,000 to upgrade track.
Kendrick High -- $2.1 million
$1.2 million to build field house (comprising locker rooms, athletic training room, multipurpose room, storage and laundry room).
$300,000 to upgrade baseball field.
$300,000 to upgrade softball field.
$300,000 to upgrade track.
Shaw High -- $2.1 million
$1.5 million to build new field house (comprising weight room, locker rooms, athletic training room, multipurpose room, storage and laundry room).
$600,000 to upgrade baseball and softball fields.
Depending on the needs at each school, the upgrades to the baseball and softball fields could include fencing, press box, concessions stand, playing surface and lights, Stanfill said.
Carver and Northside are the only Muscogee schools with lighted baseball and softball fields, he said. Columbus softball has lighted games because it plays at Lakebottom Park, he said.
Adding lights isn't a luxury, Stanfill contends.
"We have to start a baseball game at 4 o'clock," he said. "Kids have to get out of school early for that. You can't get out of school at 3:30 and walk out there and be ready to play."
Adding lights also would add revenue because more fans could attend without having a conflict with the workday, Stanfill said.
Wrestling, weight rooms
Approximately $5 million is targeted for wrestling and weight rooms at five schools. Here's the estimated breakdown:
Columbus -- $750,000 for 2,400 square feet (wrestling room)
Jordan -- $750,000 for 2,400 square feet (wrestling room)
Kendrick -- $875,000 for 2,800 square feet (wrestling room)
Northside -- $875,000 for 2,800 square feet (wrestling room)
Shaw -- $1,720,000 for 5,500 square feet (wrestling and weight rooms)
Stanfill explained why Shaw is the only school that would get a new weight room.
"Shaw's weight room is no bigger than this office," he said. "You can't ask coaches to compete at a high level without giving them proper facilities. It's not fair to our kids either. It hurts our kids for scholarship attention. We see that all the time. But every sport, you can't compete at a high level without being able to get in the weight room and adequately prepare."
Wrestling rooms can be used for other activities.
"You can have cheerleading practice in there," Stanfill said. "You can do PE in there. That's another thing about weight rooms. They're for not just athletics. They're for physical education classes as well."
Fort gym
The $2.9 million project to replace Fort Middle School's gym would consign to history the district's lone gym with bleachers on only one side, Stanfill said, and elevate it for district-wide use.
"It's not being redone just because of athletics," he said. "Yes, that's a big piece of it but for the assembly programs, they can't even put all their kids in a seat. They sit all over the floor."
The gym no longer meets the minimum square footage the state requires for physical education, Stanfill said.
"It certainly is a safety issue as well," he said, "with that sideline being so close to the wall
Mark Rice, 706-576-6272. Follow Mark on Twitter @MarkRiceLE.
This story was originally published February 28, 2015 at 10:11 PM with the headline "'We can do better' is theme for MCSD's proposed SPLOST athletics projects."