Read The Cincinnati Post article on the groundbreaking.

Shared Stadiums To Be More Welcoming, Better Quality

Stargel Stadium will be the district’s first to benefit from Facilities Master Plan money aimed at improving athletic facilities.

On June 29, 2004, the district hosted the groundbreaking ceremony for the new stadium complex.

Charlie Luken, Cincinnati Mayor; Jack Cassidy, Cincinnati Bell CEO; Melanie Bates, CPS Board Member; Harriet Russell, CPS Board Vice President; Catherine Ingram, CPS Board Member; Sally Warner, CPS Board Member; Anthony Smith, Taft Principal; and Catherine Barrett, Ohio State Representative join the groundbreaking to celebrate the start of construction.

Coming for 2004-05 to Stargel Stadium, on the campus of Taft Information Technology High School in the West End:  Synthetic turf, locker rooms, new concession stands, restrooms and 3,000 bleacher seats, and a reconditioned track.

Money for the improvements comes from $16 million set aside for athletic facilities in the Facilities Master Plan, a districtwide school-construction plan. The money is part of locally funded initiatives included in the $480-million bond issue voters approved in May 2003, which completed funding for the $985-million facilities plan. Athletic facilities are locally funded because the state pays only for educational facilities.

The idea, said CPS’ Athletic Director Dave Dierker, is to pool the money to create quality regional facilities customized for different sports and shared by several schools rather than spreading the money too thinly among the campuses.

CPS has shared its stadiums for years because of shortages of land and funding. Five high schools — Hughes, Jacobs, Shroder, Taft and Woodward — will share the renovated Stargel as their home stadium. Improvements will make the stadium more welcoming to all the schools. For example, athletes won’t have to trek inside Taft to use locker rooms, Dierker said.

Stadium improvements follow next at Walnut Hills and Western Hills high schools, both scheduled to be ready for Fall 2005.

6/17/04

Features

Stadium
ö New grandstands & pressbox
ö All-weather synthetic turf
ö All-weather 8-lane track
ö State-of-the-art sports lighting
ö Home-Visitor Team Room Building
ö Concessions, Ticket, Operations Building
ö Donor/Hall of Fame Plaza

Grandstands & Pressbox
ö Home side on west (out of sun)
ö 3000 seat capacity (2000 home,1000 visitor)
ö 80’ long x 12’ deep Press Box
ö Two coaches’ rooms
ö Filming/AV room
ö Multipurpose room

Synthetic Turf Features
ö Football Field (360’x160’)
ö OHSAA soccer compliant
ö NFL, NCAA, HS throughout country
ö Minimal amount of maintenance
ö Unlimited number of on-field events
ö Permanent striping

New Synthetic Track
ö Polyurethane surface over black rubber base
ö 140+ yard 8-lane sprint/hurdle runway
ö 8 lanes w/event striping
ö “Invitational Ready” field events
ö Shotput, Discus, Long/Triple Jumps, Pole Vault, Steeplechase

New Sports Lighting
ö Six (6) pole system
ö 80-90 feet tall
ö Night-time meets possible
ö Direct, shielded light
ö Minimal ‘spread’ onto neighbor property

Accessory Buildings
ö Team Room/Field House
ö Home/Visitors restrooms
ö Two Team Rooms
ö Officials changing area
ö Field Storage
ö Home Gate Building
ö Home concessions
ö Ticket Office
ö Operations office
ö Visitor Ticket/Concession
ö Satellite concessions

Donor/Hall of Fame Plaza
ö SW corner at John Street.
ö Large area for crowd control
ö Handicapped parking
ö Large paved areas
ö Future “name bricks”
ö “Cincinnati” signage
ö Future addition of flag poles