The Chesty Lions of Lawrence High School — supporters, students and members of both the marching band and players themselves — once again will be walking under an arch on their way to Friday night football games.
Only this time, they’ll be on their home turf.
Monday night, members of the Lawrence school board signed off on plans to accept an estimated $300,000 in upgrades to outdoor athletic venues at the high school, 1901 La.
Topping the list: a brick-ensconsed scoreboard at the north end of the football field, and a new combination ticket booth and arched entryway at the southeast corner.
“This is a statement,” said Doug Gaston, co-chairman of LHS Building on Traditions, the booster effort behind the upgrades.
He described the arch as an architectural “tip of the hat” to the Lions’ decades of gridiron dominance at Haskell Stadium in southeast Lawrence, where the Lions walked through the iconic Haskell arch for home games on their way to league and state titles.
Now, two years after opening their own on-campus stadium, a new arch is set to take shape. The booster group has contracted with B.A. Green Construction, of Lawrence, to build the arch, include a ticket booth and enhance the scoreboard — complete with a full-color Chesty Lion carved into stone and facing 19th Street — at the stadium used for football and track. B.A. Green also will add ticket booths and stone signs at soccer, baseball and softball fields, all as the company is busy installing district-financed spectator seating.
Work is set to begin soon after Lawrence High’s graduation May 29 and be completed by the time school starts again in the fall.
“We’re touching all of the outdoor facilities — all of the venues,” Gaston told board members.
Scott Morgan, whose children have attended Lawrence High, described the effort to bring LHS Building on Traditions to fruition as “a struggle,” but a worthwhile one. That’s because the fields aren’t about “glorifying the star” of athletics.
Instead, he said, the fields and the overall context they represent indicate a community commitment to students of all abilities.
“It’s showing respect for our kids,” Morgan said.
On-campus football stadiums were opened in the fall of 2009 at both Lawrence and Free State high schools, using money left over from a bond issue. A planned $400,000 concessions/locker rooms/restrooms building at Free State ultimately was augmented by donations totaling $600,000, paying for expansion, landscaping and upgraded materials.
Lawrence High donors soon went to work, and in September 2009 formed LHS Building on Traditions. Since then they have raised nearly $300,000, including at least $1,000 from each of 48 donors whose names will grace a plaque to be affixed to the new arch.
The list could expand up until and including June 30, the deadline for $1,000 donations, said Judy Keller, a lead fundraiser for the organization.
Gaston said that the donors’ efforts would help “put a great face on Lawrence High,” both by using materials that fit with the stadium’s new press box and by drawing a cohesive link to the school itself.
Past decades of Lions’ pride — whether it came at Haskell Stadium, or inside 1901 La. — promise to endure anew, thanks to donors using tradition as their foundation.
“These aren’t inexpensive structures,” Gaston said. “They are going to be built to last.”
Comments
Phillbert 2 years, 1 month ago
That "statement"? That sports are more important than classes...
“These aren’t inexpensive structures,” Gaston said. “They are going to be built to last.”
Apparently unlike our actual schools.
jocknavals 2 years, 1 month ago
Contributions are contributions Taxes are taxes. Philberts are nuts.
Phillbert 2 years, 1 month ago
That's right. And the donors chose to give money for an arch and ticket booths instead of things that benefit the actual mission of the schools. That's their right, but it is also their "statement."
BigAl 2 years, 1 month ago
Agreed.
BigAl 2 years, 1 month ago
I meant to state that I totally agree with jocknavals.
consumer1 2 years, 1 month ago
Phillbert take your vile poisonous urine and complain about Free State and the Fritzel Palace!!
BigAl 2 years, 1 month ago
I see that Free State jealousy is still working on consumer1.
I think both schools can be proud of their alumni for donating to these worthwhile efforts. I don't care what Phillbert says.
Clevercowgirl 2 years, 1 month ago
If only we could raise 300K for robotics teams, high dollar science equipment or astronomy equipment. What could we do for our kids with writer's workshops, or art and design internships? Let's put this garish, gross, and conspicuous monument to ourselves in perspective. All of this over the top spending on athletics facilities has to with many things, very few of which are about enriching our children's lives, or providing them with a brighter future. What are we going to start the homecoming bonfire with....dollar bills?
Take_a_letter_Maria 2 years, 1 month ago
What have you done to initiate this fundraising campaign? Get something legitimate going and you'd probably be surprised.
Take_a_letter_Maria 2 years, 1 month ago
What have you done to initiate this fundraising campaign? Get something legitimate going and you'd probably be surprised.
Clevercowgirl 2 years, 1 month ago
Too true... a great fall project for the LHS families. Maybe they can contact all of the donors from the athletic field.
kujayhawk 2 years, 1 month ago
Awesome! They need a banner or banners with the years of all the state championship teams that walked through the arch at Haskell.
illinijones 2 years, 1 month ago
While I wish there was a way to encourage donations directly into the classroom, the reality is that athletics is the "front porch" of a school. That's what people read about in the paper and what they come to watch on Friday night. Right or wrong, that's the reality.
nativeson 2 years, 1 month ago
I think it is appropriate for LHS to have a venue that celebrates its history. While I would love to see others take interest in contributing to the academic pursuits of the school, many people in this community have connected to the high school through football. Who knows, maybe one begets the other.
lily 2 years, 1 month ago
I think this says a lot about tradition not just athletics. LHS students can be proud of their new stadium and the fact that donors and supporters of the school came forward. The band can march through and students and alumni can as well.
merrill 2 years, 1 month ago
Meanwhile:
How about this for OUR KIDS? How should the school district pay for a $16.5 million maintenance backlog in elementary schools?
http://www2.ljworld.com/polls/2007/oct/how_should_school_district_pay_20_million_maintena/
All of the students "OUR KIDS" engage in academics so why the neglect of taxpayer owned school buildings?
What kind of a message does neglecting taxpayer owned property send to "OUR CHILDREN"?
"OUR CHILDREN" are watching politicians tell the taxpayers that USD 497 cannot afford to fix OUR buildings yet watch politicians blow $20 million on sports projects.
The greater majority of students do not indulge in sports activities.
What kind of message are the politicians sending OUR CHILDREN?
8 YEARS ago the portable buildings were going to be gone.
hometownhawk 2 years, 1 month ago
It's not our fault your kid couldn't make the team.
4getabouit 2 years, 1 month ago
Give it a rest merril. LHS kids are proud of their sports facility. You are free to donate to what you want.
merrill 2 years, 1 month ago
"Give it a rest merril. LHS kids are proud of their sports facility."
How does this justify ignoring USD 497 taxpayer owned school buildings?
runultrahard 2 years, 1 month ago
No bond issue! No bond issue! No bond issue!!!
halfpint 2 years, 1 month ago
These stadiums were built "using money left over from a bond issue"? How much was left over from this bond issue? What was the total cost of these facilities? Was any more money borrowed by the school district at interest to contribute to the project? If so, how many millions, and at what rate of interest, and how is USD 497 paying it? Just curious.
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