Sports

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June 25 , 2024  LEWISTOWN — Mifflin County High School’s new Multi-Sports Complex certainly looks like a lot of dirt and dust at this point.

But Vance Varner can visualize the Mifflin County Huskies taking to the fields for the first time as construction continues for the $18.5 million project.

“It is exciting to drive past the construction sites for the Multi-Sports Stadium Project and see the progress continue week after week,” said Varner, the Mifflin County School District superintendent of schools.

“I am optimistic about what this project will mean to all current and future students in the district, Mifflin County residents and local industry and business.”

What Varner alluded to are state-of-the-art facilities that student-athletes can be proud to compete on, replacing outdated and dilapidated stadiums like venerable Mitchell Field. Husky athletes will also have the benefit of new fieldhouses and turf surfaces that many of the opponents have.

“The sitework is going well,” said Thomas White Jr., director of buildings and grounds for the district. “Utility work should be completed in the next few weeks.” White said that work includes storm water, sewer and water.

With deadlines in place for grant funding, it is imperative that construction work for the project remain on schedule, which White said is the case for the most part.

“The field work and site work are on schedule,” he explained. “The fieldhouses are running a few weeks behind due to early rainfall.”

Over the next 30 days, the complex should start to take shape as work on the building begins.

“Fieldhouse A (located in front of the high school at the main stadium) will rise above ground level in the next few weeks and Fieldhouse B (at the secondary field) will be started,” White added. “Bleacher construction and sports lighting is to get started in mid-July.”

The project remains also on budget.​​​​

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MCSB votes in favor of multi-sports facilities project

OCT 27, 2023

BROOKE CROUSE

City Editor

bcrouse@lewistownsentinel.com

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Sentinel photo by SIERRA BOLGER
Officials of the Mifflin County School Board hear from students, past and present as well as parents and other members of the community at Thursday’s meeting regarding the multi-sports facilities project.

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LEWISTOWN — Mifflin County’s School Board voted to move forward on the first option for the multi-sports facilities project in a 6-3 roll call vote during its regular voting meeting on Thursday.

Board members including Mary Lou Sigler, Diane Stewart, Terry Styers, Noah Wise, Mike Mowery and John Knepp voted to approve the first $18,477,642 option for the multi-sports facilities project. Members Mark Baker, Fredrick Nickel and Don Wright voted in opposition.

This vote came after a motion to table the vote on the first option made by Baker. Nickel, board president, seconded the motion.

“We have literally been doing this for two years,” Stewart said regarding the idea of tabling the vote.

Sigler added that a decision must be made immediately and that stalling the decision would be “appalling.”

In a 5-4 roll call vote, board members including Sigler, Stewart, Styers, Wise and Knepp voted against tabling the vote on the first option until December when a new board is seated. Baker, Mowery, Nickel and Wright voted yes.

The vote came after many community members and students expressed their undying support for the first option of the multi-sports facilities project.

“It is way past time to level the playing field,” Ashlie Crosson, MCHS English instructor and high school newspaper advisor said.

MCHS senior and marching band member, Alex Garner said, “students have fallen when performing,” regarding the uneven sporting fields.

The long-awaited first option for the multi-sports facilities project costs $18,477,642. Upgrades include:

Field House at Main Field

-Two team rooms, two concession stands, two ticket booths, women’s restrooms with 18 water closets, men’s restrooms 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 uses), 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 the main stadium to 4,305 seats

– Upgrade to video scoreboard at Main Field ($182,000)

– Stadium lights at Highland Park Field ($445,590)

Following the approval for this nearly $18.5 million option, the board voted to adopt the multi-sports facilities financial resolution in a roll call vote. Wright, Baker and Nickel voted in opposition.

This resolution authorizes, among other things, the issuance of a general obligation note in the principal amount of $8 million to finance certain capital projects of the school district.

The $8 million is a loan recommended by PFM Financial Advisors LLC that would be offset by a potential $3.75 million in fundraising monies from the community. This fundraising amount lies in pledges and sponsorships that hinge on the specific buildings inside the first option.

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Stadium project gives MCHS ‘home field advantage’

Stadium project gives MCHS ‘home field advantage’

LOCAL NEWS

MAR 28, 2023

GREG WILLIAMS

Sentinel reporter

gwilliams@lewistownsentinel.com

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Submitted photo
Shown is an artist’s rendering of the proposed Huskies Stadium Project.

LEWISTOWN — Home field advantage is one of the most well-known concepts in sports.

Unfortunately, Mifflin County High School athletes can’t say they have a home-field advantage with the current outdoor athletic facilities, according to school officials and community leaders who are spearheading the campaign to build a proposed $15.1 million Husky Stadium Project.

“In July 2021, (Mifflin County businessman) John Pannizzo (owner of the Downtown OIP and Grille in Lewistown and Birch Hill Event Center in Burnham) gave me a call to talk about Mifflin County’s outdoor athletic facilities,” said Joel Diamond, a radio personality and retired fundraiser at both Penn State and Juniata College. “They’re not great to say the least. He wanted to go to the school board and administration and talk to them about putting in new athletic facilities.”

At first, Pannizzo proposed turf fields for the facilities, but then the plan started to grow. To be specific, the two proposed modern facilities with turf fields. It was a far cry from Mitchell Field and the other current athletic fields used by Husky athletes.

In fact, 85 percent of Class 6-A schools in Pennsylvania have synthetic turf fields, Mifflin County is one of only 18 schools that play on natural grass.

With the Husky Stadium Project, those days might be numbered. The improvements the new facility provides will put Mifflin County athletes on an even playing field with fewer injuries, fewer cancellations and practices held on the same turf fields that other teams are using, school officials said.

And there are other important amenities, Diamond said. “It’s important to have handicapped accessible restrooms, training rooms, fieldhouses and ticket booths.”

The new complex, scheduled to be completed in 2024, includes a new 3,500-seat stadium, baseball and softball fields with turf infields, band concession building, field house and secondary field with an eight-lane track.

School officials stress there is no doubt that Husky Stadium will be a source of pride not only for athletes and students, but also for the community at-large.

“The track will be open for the community to use,” Diamond said. “When there are special events in the community, there will be opportunities for them to use the fields.

“Our high school is 12- or 13-years old,” he added. “But our current athletic facilities are a lot older. We have an opportunity with this project to go forward and build something that Mifflin County can be very proud of.”

Mifflin County has a great tradition of community support when it comes to its athletic programs, and the new sports complex will serve as a focal point for fans.

The facility will also allow other extracurricular activities like the marching band to host competitions of their own, and the stadium should become the new gathering point for friends and family to annually honor high school graduates.

“Our administration and faculty work tirelessly to implement and deliver engaging and challenging academics in our classrooms,” Mifflin County School District Superintendent of Schools Vance Varner said. “MCSD continues to evaluate and implement plans to strengthen our district academically so that our students may work toward their college and career goals successfully.

“In the course of these initiatives, our athletic facilities have fallen behind, but we now have the opportunity to transform our outdoor facilities. This is a generational and collaborative project that we have envisioned for years.”

Thanks to a $3 million grant from the state, the school district, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania through the Department for Community and Economic Development and local communities are working hand in hand to make this complex become a reality.

“I know as we partner together, we will have a profound impact on the lives of our students and community members,” Varner added. “I am confident that with your help, we can build athletic facilities that will benefit our athletic programs, band and other extracurricular activities, as well as the community at-large.”

Having a new stadium in Mifflin County will create a sense of community for all residents, stadium backers said.

The project will move Mifflin County’s athletic programs into the 21st century with a multi-purpose state-of-the-art complex. Located on the high school campus, the 3,500-seat stadium will be the focal point of the construction.

It involves multiple fields with synthetic turf that will provide a playing surface that is not only pleasing to the eye, but more importantly much safer for athletes, school officials said.

Organizers said the Husky Stadium Project provides a new modern facility that will give athletes a true home-field advantage.