Sports
SE improve school’s athletic facilities
By Griffin Pritchard
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Football fans in Millbrook are going to get a different perspective on Mustang football this fall.
Foshee-Henderson Stadium, like a majority of the other athletic facilities around the campus of Stanhope Elmore High School, is getting a facelift.
“We have a new home side of the stadium that will allow us to seat around 5,500-6,000 people,” said Jeff Foshee, athletic director and football coach at Stanhope Elmore.
“Every other sport is in great shape.”
At the stadium, the home side of the stadium, for both the fans and football team, will now be on what used to be the visitor’s side.
New bleachers had been added and the pressbox was scheduled to be constructed Tuesday morning.
“The first thing that had to be done was the baseball had to be moved,” said Foshee. “All of that allowed everything to grow.”
With the relocation of the baseball field to the opposite side of campus, a new gymnasium and a practice football field has been constructed in its place.
“We have new lights at the stadium, so I took the old lights and set them up on the practice field,” said Foshee.
“Now our players don’t have to practice on that lower level behind the junior high.”
The new gymnasium brought with it a $3.5 million price tag that was purchased by the Elmore County Board of Education. Along with providing new facilities for Mustang basketball teams, it will also serve as the new home of the Lady Mustang volleyball team.
Along with the $3.5 million pricetag for the new gymnasium facility ” $235,842 cost of sitework, the Elmore County Board of Education also voted in subsequent meetings to pay $113,074 for new bleachers inside the gymnasium, $36,121.49 for athletic equipment and $30,369.51 for the gym’s floor covering ” it will feature new coaches offices and opportunities to bring the entire school together for different programs instead of having them come in waves like in the current facility.
The project is scheduled to be completed February 2009 and is beginning to take shape with a concrete slab poured, sewer lines in the early stages and iron framing standing erect.
On the other side of the 6A school’s campus, Mustangs baseball and softball has a new home.
The cost to move the baseball stadium totaled $74,000 and the Mustangs were able to play their first season inside it this spring.
However, beginning next spring, the facility will be fully completed now that the press box/concession stand has windows.
While one set of projects is currently finishing, Foshee has goals of adding more in upcoming years.
“Football-wise, we need another fieldhouse,” said Foshee.
“We need something that can house our seventh, eighth and ninth grader teams. Right now we are just making due with what we’ve got. Ideally, we’d move the younger kids into this facility and move the varsity into the new one at the other end zone.
“If we could get all of that done and then get a track built around the lower field by the junior high, get some lights and some bleachers, we’d have a place for our track and soccer teams to play. Then we’d be in really good shape.”
