The Oconto Falls School District will act as its own construction manager for $2.2 million in outdoor projects, including a football stadium and track at Oconto Falls High School and renovations at the entrance to Abrams Elementary School.
The School Board also chose its point person for the projects, Athletic Director Jerry Moynihan, releasing him from his 50 percent high school math teaching contract and opting to hire a full-time math teacher as his replacement. Moynihan will also help secure sponsorships and donations for the project.
“I’m excited for the project. This has been something the district has been working toward for 15 years,” Moynihan said. “It just continues the community effort we’ve been doing.”
The community effort includes members of Panther Pride, an organization devoted to improving outdoor sports facilities for students. The school district leased Panther Pride the land where softball fields were developed, and members supervised the project and provided volunteer labor. Leasing is not an option for the football stadium, because of the project’s size, but Panther Pride representatives again offered their expertise in design and project management and their volunteer labor.
Faced with the urgency to get the project started before winter, the School Board authorized the earth work to begin. The nine-lane track is scheduled to be ready for use in spring 2016. The first football games are scheduled on the new field in 2016.
The demolition of a church owned by the district near Abrams Elementary is also slated to take place this fall. Renovations to the playground, school entrance and parking lot will wait until summer 2015, when school’s out. Parking lot work at Oconto Falls Elementary, another project funded by the referendum, will also be delayed until summer 2015.
School officials are moving ahead with a roofing project at the high school and the purchase of laptops for sophomores, with funding provided by the passage of the second referendum.
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