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LEWISTOWN — Mifflin County’s Board of Directors expects to present six options for the Multi-Sports Facilities Project during its regular voting meeting on Oct. 26.
During Thursday’s Committee of the Whole meeting, the board announced options ranging in cost from $18.4 to $15 million.
Steve Behrens and Julian Pelekanakis of Breslin Architects will take on this project if a decision is made by the board.
Mifflin County School DIstrict Superintendent Vance Varner unveiled this project in August 2023. Varner described the six cost options for the project in detail at the meeting.
Option 1 (includes all items) $18,477,642
Two MCSD fields ($10,487,573)
Main Field
• Turf, bleachers with seating capacity for 3,500, press box, traditional scoreboard, and stadium lights
• Parking lot that includes 67 parking spaces, paving, lighting and stormwater drains
• No restrooms, no field house
Highland Park Field
• Turf and an eight-lane track
• Concrete pad for portable bleachers
• Includes steps and handicapped ramp to softball field
• Parking lot that includes 103 parking spaces, paving, lighting and stormwater drains
• No restrooms, no field house, no bleachers, no stadium lights
Two field houses ($6,397,364)
Field House at Main Field
• Two team rooms, two concession stands, two ticket booths
• Women’s restrooms with 18 water closets, men’s restroom with four water closets and six urinals, family toilet room
• Trainer’s room, mechanical room, small storage room, and custodian closet
• Upgraded commercial kitchen in concession stands
Field House at Highland Park Field
• Football drying room (also for lacrosse and other use), two team rooms
• Small concession stand, storage, one ticket booth
• Women’s restroom with six water closets, men’s restroom with two water closets and four urinals, family toilet room
• Custodian closet
Turf for infield of softball and baseball fields ($587,261)
Bleachers at Highland Park – seating capacity of 500 ($157,000)
Bleachers for student/band section – seating capacity of 805 ($220,854)
• Seating arrangement increases spectator seating at main stadium to 4,305 seats
Upgrade to video scoreboard at Main Field ($182,000)
Stadium lights at Highland Park Field ($445,590)
The $18,032,052 second option excludes the stadium lights at Highland Park Field while the $17,850,052 third option includes everything from option two except the upgrade to a video scoreboard.
Option four for $17,262,791 includes items from option three and takes away turf for the infield of the softball and baseball fields.
The $15,410,866 fifth option follows suit while also excluding the field house at Highland Park Field. Option six for $15,053,266 utilizes all previous eliminations and omits the commercial kitchen for the main field house.
Varner noted that the original concession stand with no upgrades remains in Highland Park Field.
The project would be funded in multiple ways if the board decides to move forward.
Joel Diamond and John Pannizzo, who are conducting community fundraising efforts, stated that community members/sponsors pledged $3.75 million. These pledges go toward specific items listed in the cost options and may not reflect the total given if items are eliminated in the cost option decision.
The duo plan to gain more community support to raise the pledge total to $4.5 million.
Potential project financing plans through PFM Financial Advisors LLC totals to a potential $8 million loan for MCSD that would be offset by fundraising monies from Diamond and Pannizzo.
Additionally, current year fundraising that is factored into Diamond and Pannizzo’s total equals $500,000.
MCSD also has $2 million from 2021-22 and $5 million from 2022-23 in its general savings fund for this project.
The Department of Community and Economic Development awarded MCSD a $3 million grant for the project as well.
The funds listed total $18,500,000 for the project and the board will decide how to properly apply the funding in upcoming meetings pending a decision on cost options.
Board member Mary Lou Sigler shared her support for the fundraising team.
“This will enhance not only the students’ lives, but everybody’s lives in the future,” Sigler said of the multi-sports facilities project.
Multiple community members, parents, and students from MCSD voiced their support for the project. MCSD sports coaches said that the turf fields would improve student safety.
Others shared that the new facilities would offer students better opportunities that they often see at other schools during away games.
The board will make their decision for a cost option (one of the six listed) by a majority vote of five of nine board members.
The community will receive a long-awaited answer to the call for the new sports facilities at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 26, at the Administration Building, 201 Eighth St., Lewistown. If approved, the Multi-Sports Facilities Project would have a completion date of October 2024.