Wise athletic facilities get mixed reviews

http://timesnews.net/article.php?id=9002552

Wise athletic facilities get mixed reviews

Published 08/15/2007 By Stephen Igo

WISE "? An assessment of the condition of high school athletic facilities in Wise County presents a mixed bag of glaring needs versus adequate venues.

The results of an athletic facilities study conducted by the school division administrative staff were presented to the Wise County School Board on Monday. Given the county's ongoing predicament of what to do about the high schools themselves "? five of the six were built in the 1950s and the other in the early 1970s "? the shortcomings detailed in the athletic facilities report contain no surprises to locals.

Appalachia High School's baseball and football programs share the same field. The outfield area of baseball using a portion of the football field keeps that area gasping for grass. The baseball surface has been upgraded in recent years but still needs work, the team has no field house, and the backstop and fence need upgrades.

The AHS football surface needs topsoil and better drainage, the field house needs to be refurbished, the stadium press box needs repairs, a concrete cap on the home bleachers installed in the 1990s needs additional work, and visitors bleachers are weakened because they must be moved to accommodate baseball every spring.

The basketball playing surface at AHS is in good condition, but showers in the boys locker room need an overhaul. The volleyball venue is in good condition although locker rooms need upgrades, and the track facility is not regulation size, so sanctioned meets are out of the question and it also makes training for certain events difficult. Tennis courts need to be resealed, new bleachers installed, and access to the tennis venue is inadequate.

Powell Valley High School is utterly bereft of its own football stadium. Weep not for the Vikings, who boast one of the best gridiron venues in the region.

Bullitt Park is owned by the town of Big Stone Gap, and the town and school division share maintenance and upgrade responsibilities. The PVHS home-away-from-home field offers one of the best maintained, plush playing surfaces anywhere, the home bleachers and press box are superb, and the location is eye-catching.

About the only gig one could give Bullitt Park would apply to the field house facilities, but even they get a passing grade from the school division. The track at Bullitt is also top-notch.

Basketball facilities at Powell Valley are rated good, with lack of space in front of the bleachers the only drawback. The high school has no tennis courts but good baseball facilities.

Coeburn High School uses the town's relatively new athletic complex for baseball. The drainage system and locker rooms at the town-owned venue need upgrades. The football playing surface is in good condition, but the steps on the west end of the stadium need repairs, the field house needs a new roof, home side restrooms are inadequate, and home bleachers need an overhaul.

The basketball facility at CHS is in good condition, tennis courts need to be resealed, and restroom facilities at the softball venue need to be remodeled.

J.J. Kelly High School's baseball facilities need a number of upgrades including an overhaul of the first base bleachers to provide a better view.

The football playing surface is in fair condition, albeit with an excessive field crown. The football stadium also needs a host of upgrades, including new visitors bleachers, a project discussed Monday by the school board. The visitors bleachers project alone carries a cost estimate of between $350,000 to $400,000, primarily to deal with a creek in that area.

J.J. Kelly's basketball playing surface is in good condition, but the arena itself is woefully inadequate in seating capacity. One of the largest high schools in terms of student population in Wise County was built in the 1950s with one of the tiniest basketball venues in the region. The softball facility needs a dressing area, the track is not regulation size, bleachers are inadequate for tennis matches, and volleyball locker rooms need an overhaul.

Baseball and football field conditions at Pound High School are similar to those at Appalachia because both sports share the same playing field. The football surface has drainage problems, and the school could use a field house, also a topic discussed Monday by the school board. The press box and bleachers need upgrades.

The softball field surface suffers drainage problems and gets worn out by use as a football practice field. There are no lights, restrooms or dressing facilities for softball.

St. Paul High School also uses a shared field for baseball and football, so poor field conditions are a shared woe with Pound and Appalachia. There is no track or tennis courts at St. Paul, but softball gets a good rating at a facility owned by the town.

The football playing surface at St. Paul needs to be graded and reseeded, the field house needs upgrades, the press box needs a new roof, home bleachers lack adequate seating capacity, visitors bleachers get moved and weakened to accommodate baseball, and the team must practice on property owned by the town. The high school basketball facility is deemed in good condition.

I can't imagine J.J. Kelly having a bigger gym. Gotta love the ol' cracker box palace!

I can't imagine them calling the press box at Bullit superb, it is structurely superb but way undersized and has terrible visibility.

The crackerbox should stay the same for the rest of time

Sounds like a consolidation ploy.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: StateChamps92</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Sounds like a consolidation ploy. </div></div>

Yep, they'll figure up how much it will cost to make improvements on these existing facilities and then they'll comeback and tell you it will be cheaper to consolidate and build new facilities...

And where is the downside to that.

It's odd that they say the locker rooms at Coeburn's baseball field needs upgrades. As far as I know Coeburn is the only team that even has a locker room, shower, and toilet in the dugout. They also didn't even mention the track which is probably tops in the region.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: TheBeast</div><div class="ubbcode-body">And where is the downside to that.
</div></div>

I think it may be the way to go. If it helps the kids in the long run, I think we do it. It will hard to give up the school names and colors we have grown to love, but when our kids are going to sub par schools (I mean the structures, not the teachers) then things need to change.