CENTERTON -- Construction of West High School's stadium is on schedule and expected to be completed by the football team's home opener in less than two months, officials said.
Bryan Pratt, the team's head coach, joined media on a tour of the facility Monday. Everyone associated with the team is looking forward to being able to play home games on West's campus for the first time this year, he said.
Paying for it
The School Board agreed last July to put nearly $2 million toward the West High School stadium as “seed money” in hopes of jump-starting a fundraising campaign for the stadium. The board then agreed in October to provide an additional $1.8 million the athletic department has pledged to reimburse through sponsorship contributions it receives over the next 15 years. First National Bank of NWA donated $150,000 to the project in exchange for naming rights to the field. The Bentonville Booster Club donated another $50,000.
Source: Staff report
"It's really tough to build a program without somewhere to call home and a place to have the home field advantage," Pratt said. "We talk about it as a coaching staff, how fun it's going to be to get ready for a game here and walk straight out the door and be able to play here."
The team has played its home games at Bentonville High School's Tiger Stadium, about 7 miles away, since West High opened in 2016.
West High School always has had a football field, but the stadium hadn't been built to the point it qualified to host varsity games.
The team's first home game will be Aug. 31 against Fort Smith's Southside High School. A freshman game will be played at the new stadium the day before that, giving school officials a chance at a trial run before the varsity game, Pratt said.
"I'm sure there's going to be some things that we want to do a little different here and there," Pratt said. "We're trying to make sure everything's covered so that when we get there on game night, it's good to go."
Seating capacity at the stadium will be about 4,000, Pratt said.
The home grandstand is taking shape, with the two-story press box set to be delivered July 18. Once the canopy is in place atop the press box, the structure will reach nearly 70 feet high, according to Mike Wallace, project superintendent for Flintco.
The ground beneath and surrounding the grandstands is still dirt. The concession stand and ticket booth both are partially built.
Visitors-side bleachers were in place from the beginning. Workers added hundreds of seats to both sides of those bleachers, Wallace said.
The stadium project is special to Wallace because he worked on building West High School's other athletic facilities two years ago, before the school opened, he said.
"So for me, it's just finishing the job that we started," Wallace said. "It's really kind of a neat deal."
The timeline for the $3.8 million project was tight from the beginning, with the School Board agreeing to the final cost only five months ago. Work began in early March.
"You have a deadline. School is going to open, games are going to be played. So you make the deadline, that's what it boils down to. That's what we do," Wallace said.
An average of between 30 and 35 people are working on the project each day, he said.
Football players have been gathering early each morning at the school to work out. Jonas Higson, a varsity football player entering his junior year at West, said it's been fun to watch the progress being made on the stadium.
"We get here around 6 a.m. and there are already people working on the stands," said Higson, who plays linebacker and wide receiver. "Everybody is just excited to be able to have these stands go up and they're all in awe of what's going on out here with all the cranes and everything that's going up."
Higson, 16, said he's hopeful having a stadium of their own will draw more West fans to games than have shown up at past home games at Tiger Stadium.
The team surprised some by going 9-2 last year in its second season. Expectations for the team are a little higher this year, Pratt said.
The chance to open a stadium is a "really cool deal" for not only the current players, but those from last year who graduated, he said. He expects some of them to return for the stadium's grand opening.
"They had a big part in this," Pratt said.
Bill Edwards, Centerton's mayor, attended each of West High School's games -- home and away -- last season. He looks forward to the economic boost the city likely will receive from hosting games that draw visitors from out of town.
"It's looking real good," Edwards said of the stadium. "It will be good to have the home team here. I know the community is looking forward to it. I'm hearing a lot of positive feedback from the citizens."
NW News on 07/10/2018