By: Alexa Aguilar
Source: Chicago Tribune
New athletic fields at Batavia High School that will include additional football seating and synthetic turf have progressed from talk to a tangible plan.
While no funding has been secured and no timeline laid out, administrators took the first step in a roughly $13 million project that calls for a total overhaul of Batavia’s athletic fields when an architect’s rendering of what the new fields will look like was presented to the District 101 School Board.
“It’s about establishing the vision,” said Pat Browne, Batavia’s director of buildings and grounds. “This is the vision we recommend you adopt.”
The drawings by architectural firm Wight and Company follow a year of discussion with various groups – coaches, PE teachers, booster clubs for band and sports – about what new outdoor athletic facilities should include. Once the board approves the proposal, the projects will be rolled into the district’s capital improvement plans, Browne said.
For years, the district has debated whether to improve its athletic facilities by scooping up additional land for its athletic fields. About half of the current 40-acre high school site is taken up by buildings, Browne said, and space for fields is tight. But various deals and proposals have fallen through, and in the meantime, some teams must practice off-campus and there have been delays to making improvements. Supt. Jack Barshinger told the board that the district has also held off potential donors because of the uncertainty.
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