High school stadium coming back together 9 months after big storm

Nine months after the tornado-related storms that heavily damaged The Plains, Athens High School is making rapid progress on reconstructing its football and soccer field, and stadium and track in hopes that they will be completed in time for the first football game and soccer match this fall.
The storms, including both a tornado and straight-line winds in the same storm system, slammed into Athens County and southeast Ohio on the evening of Sept. 16, destroying the stadium along with dozens of homes in The Plains and York Township, and a towing business on Athens' east side.

Despite an unexpected rainy spring, the Field Renovation Project is not too far off schedule.

"We're about a week behind; not too bad," AHS Athletic Director Chuck Robinson said. "We built time into the schedule."

The new stadium will boast an artificial turf field, which has already been installed, a video board, a patio deck by the home stands, a small visitor concession stand and a weight room.

The scoreboard/video board and the press box are scheduled to arrive today. The turf field and visiting bleachers have already been installed.

The video board will feature video replays by Nelsonville TV Cable and ACCTV 23.

The new facilities cost $2.3 million. Approximately $1.2 million was donated by individuals, with the rest of the cost covered by insurance.

Robinson said he's grateful for the donors' generosity. "A lot of the area was devastated to the point that everyone came together to make things right," he said.

Many donors gave money by purchasing personalized bricks that will be built into the Contributor Wall that encloses the stadium. A Veterans Wall is also in the process of being constructed and will feature three flagpoles.

Individuals can still purchase bricks by contacting the Bulldog Blitz (740-797-4521), though the bricks likely will not be installed until next year.

Both walls will be illuminated at night by lights installed on top of the walls.

The tennis courts and softball field will also undergo changes and hopefully be completed by this fall, Robinson said, though progress on both has been slowed by complications.

"Tennis and softball facilities are not under our control," Robinson said.

Due to cost and warrantee issues, he added, the school has yet to make a decision as to whether it will repair the tennis courts or purchase new courts.

The school is also awaiting permission from the state Environmental Protection Agency to construct the new softball field. The softball field will be relocated to where the shot-put area currently is and will require that a ravine be filled, potentially having a detrimental effect on the surrounding wildlife.

In addition to changes made by the school, returning Athens High students will see changes made by the county. A turn lane into the high school is currently being constructed, and the bike path will run under Route 682 by the high school.

Robinson predicted that the new athletic facilities will draw more attention to the school.

"I don't think the new facilities will increase school spirit, but I think it'll increase school awareness. It will make people excited, and they'll want to come watch the kids participate," he said.