Toledo High School Stadium Completion Project

 History

When Toledo High School was where the middle school is today, the high school had a grandstands and football field on the grounds of the school. The cement steps on the hillside below the cemetery were part of the grandstands. There was even less parking available than there is today and fans coming for the games would fill the side streets around the school. When the district decided that there would one day be a new high school up the hill on the 10 acres donated by the Wallace family, George Murdock and several other local community members began work on a football field and track.

By all accounts, the drainage and quality of the football field was first-rate. Even today, we receive compliments from engineers on how well-drained the field is. The track was as good as we could do at the time. In those days, most schools used cinder tracks, so the quality of the gravel and dirt track we have today was somewhat consistent with the venues of other schools. However, there was no pole vault facility built and all of the field events had makeshift facilities. The high jumpers used horse mats. Long jump used a rubberized "rug" and shotput went out into mud rather than sand.

When the high school was first built in the 1970's, there was no budget available to improve the track. Grandstands and lights for the football field would wait 20 years when the investment income from the remodel of the middle and elementary schools would provide just enough for those projects, but not to improve the track facilities or install restrooms or a concession stand.

By the 1990's rubberized track surfaces were the preferred surface. They required less maintenance, provided a superior competitive surface for athletes and reduced injuries. Today, there are nine school districts out of 295 that either do not have a rubberized track or do not have a track program.

Water blocks the inside lane of the track during the season

In addition to a track that cannot host a home meet and is troublesome for practice as it has poor drainage and uneven surfaces, the stadium does not have proper restroom facilities. Each year, the district rents portable toilets. This is the only venue in our league where fans are expected to use portable toilets. It is also the only venue where concessions are limited to what can be sold out of a portable shed. Finally, fans in the grandstands are buffeted by winds and rains from the south. Enclosing the upper part of the grandstands will keep the band and fans dry and out of the wind. Enclosing the under side of the grandstands will allow for much-needed storage for football, soccer, track and grounds equipment.

In 2016, the Facilities Advisory Committee comprised of community members listed the track and field as an "A"  (must-do) priority. The district placed these items on subsequent bond measures with the high school that were not funded. When we removed the project from the final unsuccessful bond, we heard that some folks didn't support it because it did NOT include stadium completion. With the successful bond measure, we did  not include the stadium and told our community that the high school was the priority and that we would need to address the stadium later.

The district saved $1.75 million on the high school project. As promised, we are using those funds to make the bond payments for the next four years. We also promised to address the stadium project after the high school was built.