After recently finishing a project to renovate the W.F. High School baseball stadium, including the installation of a turf playing surface, the Chehalis Foundation has now set its sights on a new project: Bearcat Football Stadium.
The Chehalis Foundation presented plans for a new turf football field and updated track to the Chehalis School District Board of Directors during a special meeting ahead of its regularly scheduled business meeting on Tuesday, June 17. The project, which the foundation would hope to build in 2027, is estimated to cost $3.4 million, with $2 million of that sum already raised.
Chehalis Foundation Treasurer Allen Unzelman and the foundation's Executive Director Jenny Collins pitched the project as a needed improvement to replace the current grass field that in the late fall months becomes unusable for its intended purpose. Other benefits would be less maintenance and expanded uses for more sports and activities.
“Right now, we have a field that is grass, and if it were perfectly dry and nice and fresh sod, it would be just fine,” Unzelman said. “But the fact of the matter is, it's not, and it gets wet and soggy, and it has a multi-purpose use, but that use doesn't often come to fruition because it's so wet and soggy … Our maintenance staff does great. They do all they can, but they're not magicians.”
During the presentation, W.F. West High School Athletic Director Tommy Elder spoke about the time it takes to care for a grass field, including painting the field, mowing it and repairing it after fall sports. He used the new high school baseball field as an example of how a turf field could impact maintenance.
“I did some rough calculations today, and between not only paid time, but volunteer time, just time spent, it's about 130 hours of saved time from just one season that we've been able to gain back with the turf baseball field,” Elder said. “That includes not only mowing, fertilizing, just the time it takes to do that, but also the volunteer time from coaches and players that go into maintaining that field and keeping it in a state-caliber, state-level playoff facility.”
During the meeting, board members expressed tempered concerns over costs and timelines stemming from the recent baseball field replacement taken on by the Chehalis Foundation, which faced delays and budget challenges.
Board Director Kelsi Hamilton highlighted the school's financial concerns and said that while the project sounded good, the school could make no financial commitments, even if the project went over budget.
“I think my biggest concern would be, I know that we did spend a little bit of capital money on the baseball project, and we absolutely don't have it for this project,” Hamilton said. “It kind of can be a little scary to think that you're breaking ground on this and, you know, hoping everything's going to go to plan. But is there a backup plan if we hit a snag? How is that going to be paid for?”
Board Director Colleen State also shared concerns about the timeline, budget and potential unforeseen challenges popping up after breaking ground.
“Is the football field going to be the same as when you dug into the baseball field? As we dug into Lintott? As we dug into Smith,” State asked. “So, immediately, you're digging in, and you've got a million dollars worth of prep work to do before you can even start it?”
Collins also acknowledged that there could be delays or increased costs considering inflation between now and 2027. She said this project will be quicker in part because the foundation better understands the process after replacing the baseball fields, and because the football field has had soil added in the past, which should make excavation and installation easier.
Collins also said the foundation hopes to get all engineering plans and environmental studies done ahead of the groundbreaking to try to expedite the construction process.
“We do anticipate that there could be some issues or delays, but we've learned a lot," Collins said. “This is going to be a much quicker project. In general, there's a lot of imported fill on the football field as opposed to the baseball field, so we expect that and hope, fingers crossed, no promises, that we would have a much better, smoother project.”
Collins and Unzelman also assured board members that the foundation was not looking for any financial investment from the school district and that the fundraising goal of $4.3 million included a contingency fund to cover unexpected costs. Unzleman detailed the money already pledged. He added that with plans to break ground in 2027, there is plenty of time to secure more grants and donations. According to the foundation, $500,000 has already been pledged by individual donors, along with a $1 million commitment from the Ingwersen Ballfield Committee and a $500,000 grant from TransAlta, with additional grant applications still pending.
School Board President J. Vander Stoep echoed the need to be clear that the district would not contribute financially given its current budget challenges, but he also attempted to assuage some concerns, reminding the board members that when the district contributed $300,000 to the baseball field, they were never asked for more when costs began to rise and that the foundation was able to rise to the occasion regardless.
Vander Stoep detailed how valuable the foundation's help was and mentioned that other districts making the same kinds of improvements have to pay for the projects using tax dollars.
“Every other school district pays for all or most of these kinds of things out of tax dollars,” Vander Stoep said. “And this is a tremendous blessing. Thanks to you all and others in the community and other organizations.”
