Friday night lights would give way to an afternoon at the ballpark, based on the school district’s vision for Memorial Field if voters approve a referendum to build an athletic stadium near Oconto Falls High School.
A proposed switch from football field to baseball diamonds at Memorial Field was outlined for the Oconto Falls City Council on July 8 by Oconto Falls High School Athletic Director Jerry Moynihan.
The school district leases Memorial Field from the city for football and track, and one piece of an Aug. 12 referendum asks voters to fund a football field and track to be built east of the Oconto Falls School District office.
Moynihan said the condition of the track at Memorial Field is a concern because of cracks and dips.
Expanded seating for football games is also needed, he told the council. OFHS football games averaged 733 fans over the past three seasons, he said, and the current stadium has seating for 500.
Moynihan said passage of the referendum would leave Memorial Field open to new possibilities, and the sports booster club Panther Pride would like the opportunity to reorient the existing baseball field and add a diamond, once the football field and track are removed.
“If we could get the football field out of there, I know there’s a bunch of neighbors along there who would be happy if we could move the baseball field in a different direction,” Moynihan said.
Neighbors have complained about foul balls landing in their yards and ballplayers collecting them.
Panther Pride and its partners developed two softball fields at Oconto Falls High School, and the organization is helping the school district to design the proposed stadium: a grass field large enough for soccer and football, concrete seating for bleachers built into a hill and a nine-lane track with a rubberized, all-weather surface.
Moynihan said a larger facility will allow the district to host tournament events, like it does for volleyball, wrestling and basketball, events which bring in people and revenue for the community.
If voters approve the referendum, earth-moving will begin in the fall. The track would be open in spring 2016, with the first football games played in fall 2016, according to projections by the school district.
According to terms of a five-year lease of Memorial Field, the district paid $15,000 in the first three years of the lease and $17,500 in years four and five. The lease expires in 2015.
“We’ll be back here with the school and you figuring out a plan to move forward if (the referendum) fails,” Moynihan said.
The proposed stadium is included in a $2.2 million proposal that will also fund parking lot improvements at district buildings and several upgrades at Abrams Elementary School: the demolition of the old Methodist church owned by the district, construction of driveways for safer traffic patterns, parking lot expansion and surface drainage upgrades.
A second question asks to exceed revenue caps by $400,000 for each of the next three years to fund roof repairs, attract and retain quality teachers, and improve computer access for students.
The financial impact for taxpayers for both referendum questions would be an average of 24 cents per $1,000 of equalized value over a 10-year period. An individual with a property valued at $100,000 would pay an additional $24 annually to support the referendum projects.
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