Recordpub.com - Streetsboro eyes $1.8 million project: School district athletic director proposes renovation for high school stadium

By Holly Schoenstein

Gateway News

Streetsboro City Schools Athletic Director Bruce Johnson has proposed a $1.8 million renovation project for the high school stadium.

The project at Glinatsis Stadium would include a new artificial turf field for football and soccer and an all-weather track. The plan also calls for public restrooms, a concession stand, weight room, boys’ and girls’ locker rooms, coaches’ offices, community room, storage, a baseball and softball hitting room and a press box. A Streetsboro Hall of Fame and a veterans’ memorial also would be created.

“Our facility at the high school right now is absolutely jammed. We have no storage, no room to work,” Johnson said Thursday during a Board of Education meeting. “This is a matter of pride. I think we need to start doing something about this.”

Funding for the project could include public and private grants and donations from local businesses and corporations, advertising and leasing options through banks.

Johnson suggested creating “Project: Ignite the Future,” a sub-organization of the Booster Club that would handle fund-raising.

According to Johnson, no money from the school district’s general fund would be necessary.

About $200,000 has unofficially been committed to the project through in-kind contributions from private companies that will donate and install the lighting and lay the asphalt. He said the asphalt material would be bought at cost.

Superintendent Linda T. Keller said Johnson has an “immense talent” for raising funds for the district’s sports programs.

“His vision in a future plan for Streetsboro involves much planning and the board of education appreciated hearing his energy and passion,” she said.

The architect who completed the conceptual design for the project did it for free, Johnson said. The project may incorporate “green” features, such as solar panels.

Melting snow has made the limestone track wet, and the teams have been practicing in the roadways, Johnson said.

“At some point later in the spring, it will dry up enough that the kids can practice on it,” he said. “With the snow melting, it’s just one big lake.”

They do have access to Ravenna High School’s stadium in the evenings, but the rent is about $100 for three or four hours in addition to the cost of busing.

“We’ve tried to do that occasionally to get them some time on the track to do the timings and the things they need to do in order to compete,” he said.

The district’s only home track meet is scheduled at Crestwood High School in Mantua, which Streetsboro schools will rent for $400. Renting facilities on a regular basis is too expensive, he said.

If the board authorizes the turf field and track, Johnson said the school could break ground for construction by next May.

The Gateway News is a sister publication of the Record-Courier.

E-mail: hschoenstein@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3152

18.	Posted by factualinfo March 14, 2010
	Is it that no one wants to recognize a good thing when they see it? The mainenance of a new stadium will be less than the current maintenance of the existing stadium. The mainenance budget will come out of the athletic fund. The athletic boosters supports the athletic programs at the schools. The band boosters support the band programs at the schools. If someone wants to start an academic boosters club to support the academic programs, please be my guest. There is a lot of time and energy that goes into these booster programs and if anyone wants to do something similar for the academic side of things they should do so. They just need to get up, get involved and DO it, not wait for someone else to do it for them. Plus, most of the people who are involved in the Streetsboro boosters clubs are involved in the schools and they do work to improve our academics at the school too. Problem is that the same people are doing all the work for the entire school population while many parents sit home and wait for someone else to get it for their kids. The problem in Streetsboro isn't lack of money; it is mismanagement of money by the superintendent and the board. No matter how much they have in their general fund they NEVER fund the things that directly impact our kids. So it you are outraged at the way the schools don't have enough money for the busing or the classroom. Get mad and contact the school board members. Go to the meeting and demand more from them. There are never enough people making these demands of the board so they don't figure they have to listen.

12.	Posted by factualinfo March 13, 2010
	There isn't the complete information here about what is happening with this stadium. Mr. Johnson has taken the time to go out and get a considerable amount of funding already from grants and businesses to cover this project. He hasn't just sat back and said, hey we want this so just give us the money. NO MONEY will come from the schools general funds for this project. In fact, if we can get a track installed through the grants and businesses he has already been able to procure; it will save the district money because we currently pay Ravenna to use their track for our meets! I'm hoping people support and applaud Mr. Johnson for being one of the few administrators at the HS who is willing to seek out grants and other funding to get better facilities for our kids. He is also cutting cost without being asked to do so by the board but because he knows it is the right thing to do. If the board had their way, they would have increased cost to a pay-to-play level of $200plus for our kids so they could use that as further blackmail for passing a levy. Mr. Johnson beat them to the punch by raising fees only a small amount and cutting costs to accommodate things. We could still cut cost a little further by utilizing more volunteer assistant coaches which I'm hoping he will do more of in the future. As far as our school debt goes, Mr. Johnson is not the problem or the solution there. Sure, the superintendent could learn some lessons from him but his experience and knowledge have been put to use for the department he is in charge of. Mrs. Keller and the board are the ones running the school into the ground financially and that will happen irregardless of what is done in the athletic department. Why should the athletic department not keep working to improve things for our kids in the athletic program? The athletic departments funds are self-sustaining for the most part from revenues raised from admission fees and participation fees and contributions from the boosters helps buy new things for the teams, not the general fund. Poor management of the general fund by the superintendent and the board are what keep us from having new text books and computers and stuff.