Athletic teams often try to stage plays with the element of surprise.
The Clarkston Community Schools Board of Education last week reacted as if they had been blindsided by athletic staff and boosters with a proposal for improvements at the high school football stadium.
At the Monday, Sept. 13 board meeting, Deputy Superintendent David Reschke and Athletic Director Dan Fife said the football team and others need a ‘team room? large enough for pregame, halftime and postgame meetings.
To accommodate this, they proposed a new concession stand attached to an already-planned new ticket booth and conversion of the current concession stand into a team meeting room.
If eventually approved, the long-term plan could cost up to $225,000 over the next two years. In the meantime, additional debate came from a ‘short-term? proposal to alter a booster-donated storage building to allow team meetings for the remainder of this season and next.
While there was no formal vote, trustee consensus was generally negative toward the short-term proposal. The only chance of the long-term plan being approved is if it is part of a major long-term master plan for all district athletic facilities.
‘Why is this coming to us now?? board Secretary Sheila Hughes asked. ‘We’ve had two bond issues since our high school opened. If it was a major problem, it should have been brought up to us for one of our bond issues.?
‘I do believe we’ve had this discussion before,? board President Karen Foyteck said. ‘Once again, we’re [being asked] to do a patch until we get it together. It’s time we stop the patch and get the program going. Get the priorities, get the design and get it put together.?
Reschke and Fife said the current high school building (which opened in 1998) included a team room, but that space is now part of the athletic director’s office.
‘The original space was not adequate,? Reschke said. ‘It was designed for a somewhat smaller student population than ours.?
The football team currently uses multiple rooms for their game-related meetings. Beyond the communication issues, staff is also concerned about players, coaches and referees walking through the concession stand area in the midst of fans.
‘It makes it very difficult for our team to get to the locker room,? Fife said. ‘Our players have been subjected to a lot of taunts. There have been times when our players have stepped on kids and run into adults. Some of our coaches have been chastised during the games to and from the locker rooms.?
There have been undercurrents of dissatisfaction with the current Clarkston High School design in a number of areas, and the athletic complex has its share. Officials said the placement of the ticket booth has been a problem, and a relocation is already planned as part of the $83.7 million bond issue approved by voters in 2003.
Reschke said the construction a new concession stand with the new ticket booth ? on the hill beyond the north end zone, would help solve additional problems.
The current concession stand ‘is in a position that favors the home side. It creates a location beside the high school building that’s very congested. It’s a fairly dark area.?
Building a new 20-by-60-foot concession sand, and adding about 600 square feet to the current concession stand will alleviate pedestrian traffic problems and provide for a new team room, Reschke said.
‘It’s a fairly elaborate solution,? he said. ‘It’s one that will require the board to do some seriously thinking about the use of resources, but we think it’s a good solution.?
Fife said the project would also help the track team during the spring season. If soccer games are moved to the football stadium, the team room would be used by those teams as well, and he sees other teams making use of the room throughout the year.
Trustees jumped at the opportunity to ask about other potential athletic department facility needs.
‘I’d like to ask, ‘What else??? Trustee Joan Patterson asked. ‘Are there other needs we have with the athletic fields? It would nice for the board to understand that so it can be incorporated in that plan.?
‘The master plan is very important,? board Treasurer Ronald Sullivan said. ‘I don’t want to piecemeal anymore.?
‘It’s time to get a comprehensive plan,? Foyteck said. ‘Granted, it’s probably going to cost a whole lot more money than any of us would like to admit. But if have a plan, and it’s definitive, we don’t have to do the whole plan in one year. As money becomes available, it can be done.?
The temporary solution raised even more debate, especially since some believe the storage building donated by the athletic boosters was intended to be an eventual team meeting room.
The problem, Reschke said, is the lack of plumbing and other code-required amenities. While it is seen as a good temporary solution, ‘We wanted to look at a long-term solution.?
The temporary solution includes a proposal for the supply of bottled water for the team and a portable toilet near the south side of the stadium.
‘Aesthetically and practically, I am not thrilled with portajohns on that site,? Foyteck said. ‘You might as well put up a big sign saying, ‘Here comes trouble,? because that’s exactly what’s going to happen.?
‘I’m not in favor of having portapotties,? Hughes said. ‘We’re better than that in Clarkston. Our kids deserve better.?
‘It seems to me that, instead of spending money on putting a door in, moving equipment and paying for a bathroom for the remainder of the year, we would want to take that money and put it toward some of our longer-term solutions,? Vice President Steve Hyer said.
Keith Clement, president of the academic boosters, said his organization is prepared to pay the cost of improvements to the storage building.
‘It wouldn’t cost the district anything,? Clement said.
Admit the debate over what the storage building was intended to be, Superintendent Al Roberts attempted to play the role of referee.
‘Things are being taken out of context, and that’s not fair,? Roberts said. ‘There’s been eight years of unnecessary tension between the boosters and the board because of the design of that building.?
In addition, Roberts referred to the company hired to design the current high school building and talked of the future of the athletic program.
‘We have an opportunity, if it’s done right, to dismiss once and for all the legacy of the Greiner plan,? he said. ‘In retrospect, I favor a permanent, long-lasting approach that’s tied to a master plan for athletics. If that costs a little more, so be it. But I don’t want to be penny-wise and dollar-foolish.?
When asked if the teams could continue to tough it out, Fife appeared flustered yet cooperative.
‘I think the boosters are going to feel betrayed,? he said, but, ‘We got by for five years. Can we get by [awhile longer]? Yes.?