Published: May 05, 2008 09:34 am         

Northern, Southern granted funding for stadium additions

OAKLAND - Northern and Southern Garrett high schools will soon see new additions to their athletic fields as improvements for both schools were approved by the Maryland Board of Public Works.

"This will absolutely be a tremendous benefit for the school," Gary Reichenbecher, principal of Northern High school, said. "The project includes not only a press box - the current press box we have is very small and cramped and a lot more space is needed for visiting teams - the other part of the project involves a concession stand, ticket booth, rest rooms and team room for visiting teams."

Northern will receive $207,000 from Program Open Space for the project, which will not only add the new press box and storage space, but will expand the existing concession stand.

The new press box at Southern, which will receive $198,000 from Program Open Space, will not include an expansion to the concession stand, but Principal Tom Woods said it will be something on a much "grander scale" than what the school has now.

"We'll be able to have not only a place for two radio stations to broadcast our games, but we'll have space for our team to be housed during halftime and before and after the game," Woods said. "There will be a place for officials to dress, a place for the clock operator and the P.A. announcer."

Woods said the new box will be used for various sports, not just football.

As the funding came from Program Open Space, which requires projects to be open to the public, the press boxes will both be made available to the public, according to Jim Thomas, board of education director of facilities.

He said anything with the school would take precedence, but that groups and organizations using the field could request the use of the buildings as well.

Bill Devore, planner for the Garrett County Department of Planning and Land Development, said the question of public use and qualifications for Program Open Space was one of the first issues addressed when the schools were looking into the funds.

"All of the teams that need to use them will be able to use them," Devore said. "Of course, they'll have to set certain times of the day, arranged through the board of ed. We checked with the people at Program Open Space to make sure they would qualify. It was one of our first questions."

While both schools will receive this money, there will be an additional 10 percent local match through the board of education, Devore said.

Plans for the press boxes are under way. Reichenbecher said he had already been part of a committee for Northern's to review them, making adjustments and suggestions. He said he is now waiting for the revised drawings to be returned.

Contact Sarah Moses at smoses@times-news.com.