PREP SPORTS: Plans for E'town High stadium modified to cut costs (06/28)

To bring the new sports complex for football, soccer and track at Elizabethtown High School closer to its $4 million budget target, some sacrifices became necessary.

Discussions between Superintendent Gary French and Louisville architect Chris D. Cottongim led to a new plan presented to school board members Wednesday evening during a work session.

Changes include reducing the stadium and fieldhouse structure by 2,000-square feet, which makes it 50-feet shorter and requiring the sports to share locker room facilities.

Rather than provide permanent spaces for the five teams, the locker and shower areas will be used in-season by each sport as needed. Some offseason equipment storage and offices will remain in the main high school building.

Internally, much of the space reduction comes from a new weight-room that will occupy the center of the stadium beneath the bleachers. It will be available to all sports and used at times by physical education classes, according to discussion at the board meeting.

The stadium’s seating capacity will be reduced by the changes, going from 1,500 to 1,200, based on Cottingim’s documents and possibly further reduced to 1,000 based on board members' input Wednesday. Bleachers on the visitors’ side of the new football field also were scaled back slightly in the revised plan.

The current E’town High football field seats 750 on the home side. Although Elizabethtown High moved to its present site off North Mulberry Street four decades ago, home games have remained at the former school, which houses T.K. Stone Middle School.

Plans call for the new complex to be ready in time for the 2013 football season, which means this fall would be the Panthers’ final varsity season at the T.K. Stone campus.

The revised plans continue to call for installation of an artificial surface on the playing field and a modern rubberized track surface, the plans show.

The stadium drawings also take into account public bathrooms, a concession area, fencing, lighting and the sound system.

As outlined, the changes reduced the estimated construction cost from roughly $3.49 million to nearly $3.257 million.

The total scope of the project, which also covers site preparation and utility extension, comes in at more than $4.076 million, based on Cottongim’s estimates. That’s within 2 percent of the district’s budgeted price tag.

The final cost will be determined by construction bids.

Cottongim’s revised drawings also may be modified slightly to provide for small offices for coaches.

The EHS stadium is to be built on the site of the present football practice field adjacent to the baseball field.

In addition to the board members, EIS leaders and project architect, representatives of the construction management company, Jenkins-Essex of Elizabethtown, attended Wednesday's work session.

Ben Sheroan can be reached at (270) 505-1764 or bsheroan@thenewsenterprise.com.