{"id":134020,"date":"2020-08-14T07:01:20","date_gmt":"2020-08-14T12:01:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=134020"},"modified":"2020-08-14T23:05:51","modified_gmt":"2020-08-15T04:05:51","slug":"vw-board-hears-report-on-eggerss-stadium-renovations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2020\/08\/14\/vw-board-hears-report-on-eggerss-stadium-renovations\/","title":{"rendered":"VW Board hears stadium project update"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SCOTT TRUXELL\/<\/strong>independent writer<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a sense, it\u2019s back to the drawing board for Eggerss Stadium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During Thursday night\u2019s special meeting of the Van Wert City Board of Education, Howard Benson of National Community Development Services told board members that, based on two main factors, he currently recommends no campaign be launched for a proposed $1.3 million renovation project at the historic downtown stadium. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Various views of Eggerss Stadium proposed renovations as shown at Thursday’s special meeting of the Van Wert City Board of Education. Scott Truxell\/Van Wert independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The project would jump to $4.3 million if it included adding a baseball and softball complex at Van Wert High School.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Benson\u2019s findings were included in a detailed 13-page report to the board, which was missing two members at the meeting — Scott Mull and Tom Losh. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He noted that, because the board is currently unwilling to seek a bond issue, revenue needed for the project would fall far short due to a lack of large corporate or business donors. He also said there\u2019s currently no support to have Eggerss Stadium included in a downtown renovation plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI would have liked to have brought more encouraging findings, I would have loved to have said we can do this, the time is now, let\u2019s get it going,\u201d Benson said via a video hookup. \u201cThe leaders who can provide the leadership funding for this, and the enthusiasm to put this campaign across, they\u2019re just not at the table with us and that is unfortunate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Benson did add that a modest bond issue and a supplemental fundraising campaign would make the project become a possibility, but Board President Anthony Adams said the board\u2019s top priority is to fund the operations of the school district. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRight now we\u2019re forecast to go into the red in a year or two and there\u2019s a good possibility that the district may have to go to the taxpayers for operations,\u201d Adams explained. \u201cTo do that on the back of an athletic bond issue could be suicide.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I\u2019m not saying we wouldn\u2019t support putting a bond issue for athletics on the ballot, I\u2019m just saying the board will need to be really careful how we proceed with that to make sure we aren\u2019t putting the future funding of the school district in jeopardy,” Adams added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Board member Debby Compton said the report serves as an eye opener, while fellow board member Rachel Dickman said the information is a useful tool. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf we do go out for a bond (issue), we don\u2019t want to overtax — we don\u2019t want to ask for more than we would need for this project,\u201d Dickman said. \u201cThe other thing to keep in mind right now is the economy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adams later said the next step is to meet with the Stadium Committee and review the findings in the report, then have the committee figure out the best way to move forward. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several community members, including Van Wert City Councilman Jeff Agler, were at the meeting and asked various questions about community support and a possible bond issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A survey done in 2017 showed overwhelming support to renovate Eggerss Stadium instead of building a new on at the high school complex. After that, more than 37 community leaders were interviewed and gave a divided opinion about the viability of a fundraising campaign. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2018, $300,000 was spent on new 1,000-seat visitors bleacher section and other improvements, after the old bleachers were found to be unsafe for fans. Assistant Superintendent Bill Clifton noted that other cosmetic improvements have been made since then. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Eggerss Stadium is in need of other improvements, Adams said a structural engineer said it\u2019s a strong structure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s 90-year-old concrete and it won\u2019t last forever without some significant renovations to it, but it\u2019s certainly not going anywhere,\u201d Adams said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To read Benson\u2019s full report, click here<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent writer In a sense, it\u2019s back to the drawing board for Eggerss Stadium. During Thursday night\u2019s special meeting of the Van Wert City Board of Education, Howard Benson of National Community Development Services told board members that, based on two main factors, he currently recommends no campaign be launched for a proposed $1.3 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-134020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-02 07:27:15","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134020"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134020\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}