The Eudora Board of Education unanimously approved bids to build a new district stadium at special meeting Tuesday night.

ATG Sports will build the stadium at a cost not to exceed $1,888,418, which is a total that is about $1.1 million less than the district had originally budgeted.

The fate of the facility, which is the final project associated with the district’s $45 million bond issue, had been in question for several months.

The district had put the stadium at the bottom of the list of projects to be completed because those that would affect academics had a higher priority.

The facility will cause the bond projects to come in about $600,000 over budget. The district will pay for the overage by financing about $590,000 in TAC Energy Solutions projects associated with other bond construction.

Raising the mill levy also could fund the overage, though that will not be decided until a later date.

The stadium’s construction also will free up the former Nottingham School and the adjacent Laws Field site for development. Developing the property at the main entrance to town off Kansas Highway 10 could increase Eudora’s minuscule business tax base, while at the same time providing financial relief to the district.

The property was appraised in 2008 at $845,000. Demolition could cost as much as $200,000, but Swartz said that likely wasn’t the case anymore because the costs have sharply decreased.

Also Tuesday, Nancy Jackson was appointed to fill a vacancy on the Eudora school board. The vacancy was created when former board member Keith Nowland resigned earlier this school year.

Jackson, 43, has worked several years in financial management and currently works for The Land Institute. She has two children in the district.