Administrators, Engineers Have ‘Plan B’ for River Hawks’ Athletics

by Jonathan Weaver

In eight months, the Armstrong Junior-Senior High campus in Manor Township will open, but it will likely be without an athletic complex ready for fall sports.

To accommodate athletes, Senior High Principal James Rummel and L.R. Kimball Project Manager Brian Hayes have come up with alternative plans.

“We’ve met a few times to discuss various options – this is basically ‘Plan B.’ We want to be prepared,” Rummel said.

The major discussion included football – which Rummel and committee members recommended varsity, junior high and team (9th grade and 7th-8th grade games to be held at Kittanning Senior High’s Jud Field.

“Kittanning’s facility would require minimal cost to hold games there. It recently hosted arguably the highest attended game ever in Armstrong County – the Ford City/Kittanning game (in October) – and also hosted Quad-A football,” Rummel said. “Locker rooms and press box will adequately meet our needs. Kittanning, however, would not be a good practice site because there’s not enough room for all teams to practice simultaneously.”

Ford City’s field in Ford Cliff would be used for all practices.

Head Football Coach Frank Fabian was also included in those facility discussions.

Kittanning soccer would continue playing at the West Hills complex and Lenape Tech, tennis would continue at Kittanning Senior High. Track and baseball teams would continue to compete at Ford City High facilities.

Kittanning Country Club and Lenape Heights Golf Resort have both applied to hosting the boys’ and girls’ golf teams, and a final recommendation should be made next month. A further recommendation will also be made as to where softball players compete.

Business Director Samuel Kirk said the district would try to combine teams to cut back on transportation expenses. It would cost about $8,000 to transport two busloads of football athletes for the season.

School Board President Joseph Close said the alternative plans are necessary.

“We have to stay proactive – it’s obvious we’re not going to have a football stadium ready to go by October so you have to have a plan in place,” Close said.

Engineer Brian Hayes also proposed at least a dozen cutbacks to the new $10 million athletic complex - including eliminating the visitor grandstands (thereby also reducing the bathroom and concession facilities) constructing a smaller field house with less locker rooms and considering only a six-lane track and four tennis courts instead of six in new bids – to entice more competitive bids when the district is ready for construction.

“The locations of the fields are not going to change, so we had to really dig in to some of the details and try to analyze some of the original design – which was pretty complex - a bold vision of wanting a top-notch facility up there, Hayes said. “It’s what looks reasonable at this point.”

“All told, we’re looking at a savings of $2.5-3 million.”

The original athletic complex was estimated to cost about $10 million, so that would reduce costs to about $7 million.

“We didn’t want to get too far from the project, to still make it a reality if we could by cutting some costs or changes in the bid process,” Close added.

Hayes said construction efforts would have to begin in the next month or two to facilitate at least six months of construction.

The changes might reduce Armstrong’s eligibility to host regional tournaments, but would not limit any team athletics.

The reduced costs would also hopefully increase the number of donation pledges to offset the construction costs. The Armstrong School District Foundation is coordinating donations, but has currently raised less than $1 million.

Board Vice-President Christopher Choncek hasn’t seen Foundation members approach individual taxpayers through special events to attract donations.

“I think once this Board commits (to a revised athletic complex), I think it’s going to be a better sell,” Kirk replied. “Naming rights will come into play also once somebody sees how nice it’s going to be.”

District officials also hope for up to $2.2 million in funding through state construction reimbursements after a moratorium was lifted. Hayes hoped new Governor Tom Wolf would repay that money within the next 18 months.

Region III Board Director Stan Berdell asked engineers not to forget about improving West Shamokin athletic facilities during their feasibility study.

“There’s just no room out there – wrestling mats, art projects in the hallway,” Berdell said. “Get us a number and see if there’s anything we can do. It’s been that way for a long time.”

An executive session was held to discuss personnel and real estate matters before the meeting.

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  By localtaxpayer, January 9, 2015 @ 12:20 PM

  ASD made the correct decision by choosing Kittanning High School for the New Armstrong Central teams to play on. The old Ford City field is very difficult to see the game. So, maybe someday we will have a new field to use.
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  By lowfatlowcarbnosugarcheesecake, January 9, 2015 @ 9:34 PM

  Be careful what you ask for Stan Berdell….
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  By bob, January 11, 2015 @ 9:48 AM

  I heard through the grapevine last month that they were going to use the Kittanning football field to host varsity games next school year. The first words out of my mouth were “Oh, surely not”. Why in the world would they use the field that is so unsafe? Didn’t one of the medical Dr.s in the area write a letter to the WPIAL several years back with concerns about the safety of that field and the fence placement? Did anyone on the school board discuss safety concerns with the pediatric practice in the area and ask their opinion on choosing this site? So glad I won’t have a child playing football or cheering next year at this field. Didn’t several of the current school board members run on a “stop the madness” campaign when they were elected? The choice of this location doesn’t make sense when the safety factor is considered, which obviously it was not. Why did the district replace the fencing at the Ford City field less than 2 years ago to the tune of 100k dollars (just the amount I heard) if they weren’t going to use this site once the merger took place? And those saying there was plenty of room for those attending the last F.C./Kittanning game must have a different idea than I do about what is adequate space for that amount of people. It was very crowded in my opinion. I normally do not attend football games at Kittanning field because it makes me a little claustrophobic. This article reads to me like they are planning to have a football field at the new school the following year, but I still wonder where the remaining 4 million is coming from?

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