As the high school football season is about to commence Aug. 20, the new Noblesville High School stadium is only a year away from its debut.
In fact, David Mundy, associate superintendent for Noblesville Schools, said the stadium is on target to be completed by March 2022, in time for the high school track season.
“The new stadium will host 6,000 people, 4,500 on the home side and 1,500 on the visitors’ side,” said Mundy, who oversees operations for the district. “We are right on pace if we can keep the weather the way it’s been. Our intention is the two practice fields will be completed by early August and ready to go. We are working on finishing the visitors stands and then the track will go in.”
Mundy noted that when the current football stadium, which holds 4,000, was built in 1969, Noblesville’s population was 12 percent of what it is today.
The two locker rooms and concession stands are on pace to be completed as well, Mundy said.
“We are fortunate in Noblesville (that) we have a great fan base,” Mundy said. “We have a great community that supports us. We want all our community members, our students, our middle school kids, and even the people outside the community, to be able to come to our games and enjoy themselves and be in an awesome situation to watch the game. When the crowds are there, it does affect our football team. We also have great crowds for track. This is going to accommodate larger crowds with more space to move about. We can accommodate the youth events and youth state championships we’re trying to host.”
Having the stadium right behind the high school is another benefit.
The current football stadium, Beaver Materials Field at the Swanson Sports Complex, will remain a district facility to accommodate lacrosse, band competitions and other uses.
“It will also be used for rentals and some for our youth teams,” Mundy said. “It will stay active.”
Besides the increase in seating, the new stadium will have expanded concessions and restrooms, enhanced LED lighting and updated broadcast technology capabilities.
Marnie Cooke, director of communications, said naming rights are being sought for the stadium.
“We also have other pieces of the stadium, naming locker rooms, naming concession stands and scoreboard sponsorships,” Cooke said.
The groundbreaking for the stadium was Sept. 15, 2020. The Hagerman Group is managing construction of the $14 million project, which is funded through a bond. The architect is CSO Architects. Mundy said referendum dollars will not be used and the funding will not increase the tax rate. The bond being used to finance the stadium cannot be used to fund staff, programs or student needs, per state guidelines.
Elementary schools expand
Noblesville Schools recently completed an expansion of North Elementary, which was built in 1967. The added space will provide North students with adequate room for lunch, physical education and music programming, as well as restroom renovations.
“As the oldest and smallest school in the district, this space was desperately needed at North and will be a major enhancement in our school operations,” North Elementary Principal Rob Lugo said. “Our students can now take advantage of expanded athletic and music instruction, eat lunch in a timely manner and be together for school events, comparable to all the other students in our district. The renovations also create cost-savings and efficiencies through updated restrooms and kitchen equipment.”
David Mundy, associate superintendent for Noblesville Schools, said the cafeteria needed to be larger to get students through in a timely manner.
“On the south side of the building is where we developed a new gymnasium and music room,” Mundy said.
The Noble Crossing Elementary expansion, which was completed in May, included a new southwest wing of six classrooms, a teacher workroom and an expanded cafeteria dining area.
“The new classroom wing allows us to continue to provide exceptional learning experiences for our growing student population,” Noble Crossing Elementary Principal Pat Haney said. “Additionally, the expanded cafeteria means not just needed space for lunch, but room for enrichment programming and before/after school care as well.”
Mundy said growth on Noblesville’s west side has driven up enrollments in recent years at Noble Crossing and Hazel Dell elementary schools, creating the need for expansions to maintain appropriate class sizes and services.
The Hazel Dell Elementary expansion, which was completed in January, included two new classrooms and two new teacher workrooms. Renovations were made to office areas and the media center, nurse clinic and front office.
“We are now in pretty good shape in all of our buildings in terms of spacing in all of them,” Mundy said. “We do monitor that yearly. With being a growing district, we never know where new construction (for housing) might come in. Every four or five months, we do another numbers check.”
Earlier this summer, Mundy said the new maintenance storage facility at Cumberland Road and 191st Street and the soccer safety locker rooms were finished in the White River Soccer complex.
