Capital campaign to begin for athletic complex

The Lewiston School Board moved one step closer to begin building athletic facilities at the new Lewiston High School location.

While no formal action took place at the meeting Monday, the board asked Superintendent Lance Hansen to reach out to Brad Rice, former school board president, to start forming a capital campaign to raise money for the project.

Hansen said he will have updated numbers on the cost of the project at the board meeting in February. Then the capital campaign can establish a timeline for the construction and begin marketing.

“I’m excited about this,” President Brad Cuddy said. “I want us to get going on this as soon as we can.”

Cuddy said the facilities will be funded by the capital campaign and not a bond levy. The district has saved $2 million for the project and the rest will be covered by donations.

The board also discussed reviewing the policy for naming rights to the facilities and how many areas would be available — for example, if the concession stand at the football stadium would be up for naming rights.

Board member John Rudolph proposed allowing smaller donors to place their names on bricks or plaques, but also noted that the bigger donations are what will make the project happen.

“We definitely want a vehicle for the general community to participate in because it’s their facility,” Cuddy said. “The Brad Cuddys of the world don’t have a million dollars to donate.”

The current plans have a baseball field, softball fields, football stadium, and practice football field and soccer fields. The football stadium also has a track around the field and will have an announcer and coaches box, concessions and basement storage.

Church Field, located at 13th Street, would remain the main baseball field for high school teams. Board member Jon Lang asked about having the main baseball field at the new high school so all the sport facilities could be at the same location. The new location could retain the name Church Field, after Dwight Church, who coached Lewiston High School and Legion baseball. The move would also allow for the property at Church Field to be sold or remain a baseball field.

Hansen said he would have to talk with the architects of the athletic complex to see if that was possible in the design because the high school would need to have two baseball facilities. Staci Baldwin, vice president, then suggested asking baseball coaches their thoughts on the best location.

Lynn Moss, former parks and recreation director for Lewiston, gave a history of the property that the high school now sits on and how it was acquired from the landowner, Ralph Nichols — the purchased property also includes land for Lewiston Community Park.

Tim Barker, parks and recreation director, showed board members what the athletic complex will look like in conjunction with the city’s master plan for Lewiston Community Park.

The master plan includes baseball fields for Little League, sand volleyball courts, playgrounds, a bicycle playground, a soccer field, a plaza, concert area, splash pad, disc golf, a wedding venue and a memorial to the Nichols family.

Barker said he is two to three months away from completing the master plan and having the city council move forward with it. With the completion of the high school and Lewis-Clark State College Schweitzer Career and Technical Education Center near the location, Barker said it will kick-start the process for the park.

“Between the school district and the city, you’re going to have a destination there,” Cuddy said after looking at plans for the athletic complex at the high school in conjunction with the plans for the park.

In other business:

The school board unanimously approved the calendar for the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years. The new calendar increases the amount of hours for educators from 190 to 195, which will have to be negotiated with the teacher’s union.

The board unanimously approved a recommendation from Hansen to advertise for bids for a roofing project at Orchards Elementary School.

Brewster may be contacted at kbrewster@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2297.