Minster bleachers coming along

MINSTER - Crews are making steady progress on a $1.25 million project involving the installation of new bleachers and construction of a new press box and entryway at Memorial Stadium.

Work is on track to be completed in early August, said Minster Local Schools Superintendent Josh Meyer at Tuesday night's regular board meeting.

"They should deliver the actual bleacher parts Thursday, and they've been pouring concrete this week," he added.

The Minster Wildcats will hit the road for their first three football games of the upcoming season before playing their home opener in the greatly enhanced Memorial Stadium on Sept. 13.

"They made the schedule a little bit different this year to accommodate the bleachers to try to push it off as far as possible, just in case," said board member Ted Oldiges.

Board members in April approved a guaranteed maximum proposal of $170,224 from Baumer Construction of Minster to raze the bleachers and press box. The work was completed in the spring.

The demolition cleared the way for the construction of a new press box and installation of new bleachers. The board awarded a $1.25 million contract to the Southern Bleacher Co. of Graham, Texas, to replace the old press box and bleachers, which date back to the construction of the stadium in 1976.  

Plans also call for site work, electrical work and technology to provide data services to the new press box.

The overall project, Meyer had noted, will be funded with excess proceeds from a bond levy passed for the construction of the new school about 25 years ago.

"We are allowed to request from the Auglaize County Budget Commission reasons to use excess funds, and this is a perfect reason for that," he said at a previous board meeting.

The project is direly needed as the wooden bleachers installed in 1976 have had to be replaced multiple times.

"Within the last couple years, we've also had boards break while people were in the stands," Meyer had said. "Obviously once that starts to happen … that starts drawing my attention. We're talking about safety. So quite frankly, it was time."

Garmann Miller of Minster assisted with the bleacher design and layout, he added.

The athletic boosters are also spearheading a fundraising campaign to give the stadium entrance and ticket booths a facelift. Plans call for the construction of an illuminated archway entrance with brick columns on either side. The entrance will lead to a brick ticket booth with two windows.

Just beyond the ticket booth will stand a brick memorial wall that will tell the story of Memorial Stadium, according to booster president MatthewQuinter.

The stadium was built in 1976 to honor eight students - Kenneth Sommer, Scott Westerheide, Joy Brandewie, Rebecca Moorman, Lester Ranly, Barbara Olding, Michael Kemper and Anthony Kemper - who died in a car accident.

The athletic boosters have worked closely with the families of the eight students to ensure the new entrance properly recounts the stadium history, Quinter had said at a project information session in late March.

"The hope is that the story gets reinvigorated to the point where students today have the same feel from Memorial Field as what people before this (did)," Quinter said. "So we're intending to kick off a capital campaign to try to raise the funds."

Quinter had said the goal was to raise $500,000 for the project. Boosters had hoped to have the work completed in the fall alongside the bleacher project. However, finishing touches such as graphics and signage may not be completed until spring 2025.

"The goal is to try to have construction complete before football and potentially do a (grand opening) event during the memorial track meet next year," Quinter had said.

Board members on Tuesday night also went into an executive session to discuss compensation of a public employee and the purchase or sale property. No action was anticipated afterward.