The Daily Standard
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COLDWATER - The Coldwater High School Palace gymnasium is slated for a major upgrade with the retractable bleachers to be replaced and the three courts to be refinished next summer to the tune of nearly $1 million.
Additionally, school board members at Tuesday night's regular meeting learned that the track, reportedly the oldest in the state, has maybe two years of life left at the best. Depending on the condition of the subsurface, it may cost anywhere from $250,00-$300,000 up to as much as $700,000-$800,000 to replace, according to athletic director Eric Goodwin.
The Palace upgrade, estimated at $925,000, is included in the district's 10-year-capital improvement plan, noted Superintendent Doug Mader. The Palace was built in 1991, according to Goodwin.
"We've replaced about everything since I've been here at least once, and this will be the only thing we really haven't, and this will be the largest project I think we've ever done, not only money-wise, but also the coordination of it is going to be tremendous," Goodwin said. "We're going to basically shut down the Palace gym for the month of June and July. We're going to leave the Pit open for the entire time. But again, the Pit's not quite enough for all of our teams to use during the summer, so then we're going to have to look at other options for our volleyball camps, our basketball camps and summer workouts and stuff like that, whether it's using some local facilities around here, things like that. So the coaches are going to have to get creative."
It's become increasingly difficult to get the bleachers out and many areas are cracked and coming apart, Goodwin pointed out.
"The last inspection we had done, the company wanted $85,000 for simple repairs to make it more functional but that would not have fixed the issues that Eric was talking about," Mader said. "So it was a point of no return to where it was time to go, very similar to what the football lighting situation was. It was a point of no return that we had to make a decision."
"You can keep putting band-aids on it, but eventually we're going to have to get it done," Goodwin added.
The work has already been scheduled for summer 2027, Mader said. The press boxes will be removed from the Palace between June 1-6, the bleachers will be replaced June 7-July 9, the entire gym floor will be refinished July 10-18, the press boxes will be returned July 19-25 and the gym will be reopened on July 26.
"So almost two months of shutdown, which will be some growing pains for us, but the coaches have been informed," Mader said. "They're doing their own scheduling piece, and I know that we have enough facilities in the area that we'll still be able to do our camps and all the extra things that we do."
School officials also discussed the deteriorating state of the track.
"I'm just one of those ones who is always proud that our track was as old as it was, and our custodians and everybody did a great job of maintaining it, but it's getting really bad now," Goodwin said. "If you walk it you'll see the cracks everywhere on it. It's just a matter of time before it completely starts to come up."
In fact, it's the oldest high school track in Ohio, Goodwin said.
"I think it's anywhere from 32 to 33 years old. Apparently they (school officials) put one down years ago, and when it went down, within a year it was like coming up and then the company went out of business and folded, so we had to get a new one in," Goodwin said. "I don't know the whole story."
Goodwin said he prays the school can get two more seasons out of the track.
"But I'm at the point now where I'm concerned where we may have to - not this season coming up but the season after it - all of a sudden we can't have home track meets (that) year," Goodwin added.
"We also have to think as a board (about) the spot around the home stand is all blacktop, and if you look at the condition of that, if we're redoing some of the blacktop, what do we do with that blacktop? To grind it down and redo it?" Mader asked. "Our saying is: If we're going to do something, let's do it right. So we really need to sit and think about that."
After the meeting, Mader further elaborated on plans to replace the track.
"We're hoping that the (athletic) booster club is able to cover that, but we have money in the 10-year plan to supplement that if the need arises," Mader told The Daily Standard.
During the meeting, board members also heard from booster club president Liz Niekamp. She said the club has about 21 active booster board members, in addition to 68 members at large. The club in the last five to six years has donated about $175,000 to student athletes and athletic facilities.
"To kind of kick start 2026, in January we decided to invest some of our money over to the (Mercer County) Civic Foundation … naming it the Cavalier Athletic Improvements Fund, just to kind of sit there, grow a little bit of interest and see exactly where it can be best used," Niekamp said.
Goodwin said he enjoys an excellent relationship with the athletic boosters.
"It may be a time where I'm getting hit hard with a lot of expenses, and I'll go to these guys, 'Hey, can you help me out with the volleyball uniforms or the girls basketball uniforms or whatever it is, and they're always willing to help out," he said. "Basically they're an extension of our athletic budget, but they just have more capabilities of bringing in money. My revenues are pretty limited in what I can do. You can't raise ticket prices every year, and you can't do these fundraising (efforts) and all this without a million people. And they do a good job of that."
Board members also,
• approved a service agreement with Montgomery County ESC for hearing and vision for the 2026-2027 school year.
• accepted the purchase of general liability, property and fleet insurance for $72,676 from Stolly Insurance Group and Ohio School Plan covering the period of September 12, 2026, through September 12, 2027.
• approved the fiscal year 2027 DPIA and Student Wellness and Success Plan.
• approved athletic ticket prices for the 2026-27 school year. Ticket prices for individual high school games are $8 for adults and $7 for students. Ticket prices for individual junior high games are $5 for adults and $4 for students.
• approved donations of $5,773.92 from Coldwater Athletic Boosters for athletics; $750 from Eldora Speedway for soccer, $250 from Tyler and Heather Siefring for Elementary PBIS; $50 from Truland for FFA; and $50 from Lisa Lefeld for the Elementary PBIS.
• accepted the resignation of Denise Petersen, due to retirement, effective May 28, 2027.
