Digging In

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MILL HALL - Just over a week ago, the land behind Central Mountain High School was nothing more than overgrown weeds and plants, big mounds of dirt and even bigger dreams.

Today, it's beginning to look like the future home of Wildcat outdoor athletic events.

A groundbreaking ceremony last night lent officiality to the construction work that started last week, when an anonymous donor contractor began clearing and leveling the ground for the playing fields.

Keystone Central School District officials are very excited about the progress made in such a short time.

"When you see how much they've gotten done in one week, I think (construction) might go pretty fast," said Jack Peters, school board president.

While Mark Shrift of Hayes-Large Architects would only commit to a project completion date of "fall of this year," Peters was slightly more specific.

"I was told Oct. 7. We might not make that, but we'd definitely like to play a (football) game or two here (this season)," he said.

At least the first three home games of the Wildcats' 2008-09 season will be played at Lock Haven University, Peters said.

Shrift noted his estimations for a completion date included only the stadium and its turf, a softball field and the required portion of a fieldhouse. A construction start date has not yet been determined for the baseball field, he said, due to the need for environmental permits.

The first section of the fieldhouse to be completed will be the center section, where the restrooms, boiler room and other key facilities will be located. Peters said the rest of the fieldhouse would probably be finished in stages and would be at least 50- by 220- feet in the end, likely covering more than 12,000 square feet.

The stadium will boast seating for about 3,500 people for both football and soccer games.

"We'll have one of the largest multi-purpose artificial turf stadiums in Central Pennsylvania. It will include the only full-size soccer complex with artificial turf in central Pennsylvania, and probably in the whole state," said Steve Murray, a member of an ad-hoc committee designated to raise funds for the project. "Most soccer fields in the state are confined by tracks. We won't have a track on our complex. I think that'll be something very positive for our soccer program."

Another point of pride for the school district is its multi-purpose physical education field, which will be the same size as the football/soccer field. The new turf will allow students in physical education classes to be outside more often after rainy weather than they current conditions allow and keep them safer than the parking lot behind the school in which they play now.

"Ultimately, what we're going to build here is not just going to be an athletic complex. It's going to be for the students first. It's going to include physical education facilities. It's going to include things that are necessary for a full, well-rounded education," said state Rep. Mike Hanna, D-Lock Haven. "That's so very important. First and foremost this is about making this academic facility a better facility for all of us."

Peters echoed those sentiments.

"This project is about kids who aren't even born yet. When all of us aren't here anymore, somebody's going to say, 'Well, I'm glad a group of people had the foresight to be able to do something like this,'" Peters said.

"To me, this is infrastructure, just like water and sewer lines. This brings people into your community and when they come into your community, they see other things, do other things, buy other things. And when they have a pleasant experience, which is what they're going to have here, there's a real good chance they're going to come back again."

The complex is expected to cost between $3 million and $3.2 million. Most of the funding will come from the $1.25 million sale of Painter Stadium to the City of Lock Haven and a matching $1.25 million state Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program grant.

The district created an ad-hoc committee to raise the additional $600,000 to $700,000 needed to complete the project. At least $200,000 of the money the ad-hoc committee needs to raise will come from two small subgroups, each of which has acquired the naming rights for various components of the complex. Both groups are hoping to memorialize past football coaches at the new complex.

"It's great to be able to honor the past at the same time we're building the future," Peters said.

One group is working to raise $100,000 to name the football/soccer field after former Lock Haven High School and CMHS football coach Mike Packer and his late wife Paula, a former KCSD teacher and school board member. Packer's daughter, Mandy Packer-Gill, said her family is very pleased with the number of golfers who have signed up for a charity tournament at the Clinton Country Club on Aug. 7 to benefit the cause.

Another group, also with a goal of $100,000, would like to name the stadium after former LHHS football coach Donald Malinak. Jeff Mapstone, a leader within that group, reported last night his committee has raised over $60,000 in cash to date, putting them well ahead of a requirement set by the district that they have at least $50,000 by next month.

"I think that's pretty fantastic. It's such a strong indication of what he (Malinak) meant to us," Mapstone said.

Interim Superintendent Dr. John Dinunzio also spoke briefly at the ceremony, thanking the district for the opportunity to be involved in the project, if only for a short time.

Tax-deductible contributions toward the project may be made to the nonprofit Keystone Central Foundation, P.O. Box 568, Lock Haven, Pa. 17745, or by visiting the foundation's Web site at www.kcfoundation.net and printing a contribution form to mail.