The following article is reprinted from Republic Tiger Sports Magazine:
Since the new campus of Republic High School opened in 2010, the phrase “home game” has taken on a bittersweet meaning for the football team, the marching band, and other groups. That’s because the football stadium remains a few miles away from the high school campus, at what is currently Republic Middle School. Every Friday night home game starts with a lot of logistical planning that most other schools don’t have to face.
A bond issue on the ballot in April would change that by authorizing construction of a new stadium on the high school campus. The stadium would be located at the site of the current track, just southwest of the parking lot.
The bond issue would not require a tax increase, but would allow the district to access about $5-million to help fund the facility. It requires a 4/7 majority to pass. If it does, about $3.6-million more in funding would come out of the district’s capital projects fund.
Superintendent Chance Wistrom says the school board got community feedback and examined several funding options before deciding to put the issue before voters. The capital projects fund is well-stocked because the board had been planning for much faster population growth that never materialized.
“At one point just years ago, we conducted a demographic study that predicted 30-40% growth over 10 years. The most recent demographic study showed a 10-12% 10-year growth. That’s manageable, and we have room to absorb that over the next 10 years. When we received that , we said…let’s shift our focus to other immediate facility needs.”
Those immediate needs include repairs to the roofs of all district buildings and upgrades of older, less efficient windows. Even after those immediate needs are met, including technology for the district’s “Repmo Ready” initiative, Wistrom says there is money left to pay for stadium construction. In addition, Wistrom says the district may be able to leverage advertising and marketing opportunities at the new facility to help offset some of the cost.
Athletic Director Greg Garton says in addition to eliminating travel back-and-forth from the high school to an off-campus site, putting the new stadium––and its artificial turf surface––next to the high school would allow it to be used every day.
“Almost on a daily basis, our band will be out there for practice, not standing out in the mud and grass. Our football team can practice on it every day. Our PE department can use it. Baseball and softball, on wet days, can use it. We can have our track meets out there. When a storm happens and normally we’re out in the mud, now we won’t be. It creates a safe practice facility.”
Garton says the new stadium would bring Republic in line with other schools in the Central Ozark Conference.
“Our current facility, if you rated the nine COC schools next football season, our stadium would be eighth out of nine. I would expect the new one to be 3rd or 4th.”
Carthage is the only other COC school without a football stadium on its high school campus, but that will change this fall when construction is completed on a new stadium there.
When Wistrom considers the benefits of a new stadium, his thoughts go to the community experience. The current stadium, which holds about 2,000 people, is often packed. He says a bigger stadium will bring more people out to the games. The new facility would hold about 4,000 people.
“Currently, people don’t come to games because there’s no room to sit,” Wistrom says. “Most communities are trying to get people more involved in activities and kids. We’re a community that has an interest in kids, they want to support their activities, and we don’t have a facility that they can all do that. It provides our community with the opportunity to support our kids and activities, and I think that’s huge. When you get families, adults and parents interested in what their kids are doing, kids are typically successful.”
Wistrom also says the new stadium would be more accessible for grandparents and safer for young people who tag along with their parents.
“Our seniors can’t access the current facility, and we could provide a safer environment,” he says. “We can’t sit all the kids in the stands, so there’s a supervision issue. When we had to evacuate the stands , there’s not a good evacuation plan.”
The new facility will also include an open plaza between the admission gates and the stadium. The visiting team’s fans would also have their own concession stands and restrooms. The additional space would make for a better fan experience, according to Garton.
“There will be more room to go to the concession stand and the restroom,” Garton says. “It’s not like we are in our current stadium, where people are on top of each other and not able to move.”
The new stadium would also include a field house with a locker room for sophomores, juniors, and seniors. Freshmen would use the current locker room attached to the high school.
In addition to hosting football games, the stadium would also allow big improvements for the track program. Plans include an electronic timing system to bring the stadium up to par with other schools. That would allow Republic to host MSHSAA events like district track meets. They currently can’t host such events because they are limited to hand-timing of races at the middle school stadium.
“It brings us to where other schools have been for several years,” says Garton.
Tiger Pride Band
The artificial turf would allow the marching band “to rehearse on it ten minutes after it rains,” according to director Dan Altis. “The all-weather nature of the field…is an exciting benefit.”
But most of all, Altis says he would enjoy having home games on campus, alleviating the need to arrange transportation for a trailer full of equipment every Friday night.
“No longer do we have to travel across town, pack everything up, unpack, reverse that, and come back over here,” he says.
Altis says his percussion section loses a full day of rehearsal every week because they have to cut class short to load their equipment. Other sections lose a half hour.
“By Friday, I’ve communicated with our semi-driver, if we can find one––not only the driver but the truck––then all of that is brought over and hooked up. The trailer is moved and we like it between 4:30 and 5:00. The students arrive at 6:00 or earlier, unload the equipment they need, then we warm up and go through performance.
“If we do not have a Saturday competition, we load everything back on the semi after the game, get it all loaded and back to the high school, and the trailer is parked and left.”
The new field would offer another benefit to the band as it prepares for competitions.
“Some of the festivals we attend are in high school stadiums, and those have high school lines and yard markers. The other half we go to are in college stadiums, and they have a different set of hash marks and yard markers than a high school does.”
The new field will include both high school and college hash marks, allowing the band to rehearse specifically for the field where their next competition will be held. And the artificial turf will hold up better under the constant marching.
“We have an amazing grounds crew that helps us maintain the field as best as they can, but with the repetitive motions we have, it does wear patterns into the grass,” Altis says. “With a turf field, we will have less of that issue.”
Community Use
If the bond issue passes, it would also open up the current football field for use by other organizations. Republic Youth Football, which plays its games at the old field near Price Elementary, would transition to the middle school for its games on Saturdays. The Price Elementary stadium, built in the 1970s and badly out-dated, would likely be phased out of use.
Both Garton and Wistrom stress that the school board isn’t planning for a state-of-the-art stadium that will dwarf the others in the area. They say they want a good facility that meets the district’s needs now and in the foreseeable future—without a lot of expensive bells and whistles.
“This isn’t about having…a Taj Majal or spending a ton of money just to say we have the biggest and best,” Wistrom says. “It’s going to have plenty of seating…great lights, and premier turf. It’s going to have a great press box for everything we want to do…and a home locker room that also has a training area that can be accessed from the outside for other activities. The focus is building a facility that will support our community and allow our parents, coaches, and kids to pursue excellence.”
The bond issue will be on the ballot Tuesday, April 4. It requires a 4/7 majority to pass.
Publisher’s Desk
by David Brazeal
On Tuesday, April 4th, voters will get a chance to vote on a proposed bond issue that would raise money for a stadium on the campus of the high school. I’ll be voting “yes,” and here’s why:
I’m voting “yes” because the bond issue won’t mean a tax levy increase, and it comes at a time when the district seems set up pretty well financially to make it happen. The district has been saving money to handle huge projected growth in the community––but newer studies say that growth isn’t likely to happen. Because of that, the district can now afford to do things like repair leaky roofs, replace old windows, make other repairs and improvements, and, yes, build an on-campus stadium.
I’m voting “yes” because the current stadium is out-dated and over-crowded. If you’ve been to a game lately, you know what I’m talking about. And heaven help you if you ever need to buy a hot dog.
I’m voting “yes” because the new turf surface will make the facility more available to more student groups, including marching band, and because it could open up the Middle School field to youth sports groups who currently don’t have access.
I’m voting “yes” because the proposed stadium brings Republic in line with other schools of similar size. After Carthage opens its new on-campus stadium this fall, Republic will be the only COC member without a stadium at its high school. This proposal would change that.
And finally, I’m voting “yes” because of what the project is not. It’s not state-of-the-art. It’s not the most whiz-bang stadium in southwest Missouri. It’s a solid improvement that puts Republic in the upper half of its conference, but it’s not about showing off what Republic can build. It’s about, in the words of superintendent Chance Wistrom, providing “our community with the opportunity to support our kids and acvitities. I think that’s huge.”
I think it’s huge, too. And that’s why I’m voting “yes.”