Site for schools’ stadium unknown

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Additional details on the Tipp City schools proposal to build a new stadium are being released, but one question — where the facility would be built — remains unanswered.

The Board of Education last month voted to place on the March ballot bonds issues to build a new prekindergarten through third-grade building and to construct a stadium. The school bond issue proposal is 3.98 mills, while the stadium bond issue would be for 0.69-mill raising $29,902,961 and $5 million, respectively.

Representatives of the city and Monroe Twp. commented on the stadium proposal without a location specified during a joint meeting of city, school and township administrators and elected officials Nov. 30.

Superintendent Gretta Kumpf said the board of education agreed (by a 3-2 vote) to seek the bond issue but chose to allow a new board decide the location when it takes office in January. Three of five board members will be new.

Mayor Pat Hale asked if there is “a way to allow the people of Tipp City vote on the location versus five people on the board deciding.” Kumpf said she thought a survey would provide that information, but Hale contended a survey gives limited results.

Township Trustee Ron Thuma asked if property the district owns on Michaels Road was considered as a stadium site. It was not.

Architect Mike Ruetschle in mid-November shared with the board preliminary planning diagrams for a new stadium that could be placed at either the high school or park.

City codes would require the construction of one parking space for every four seats in the proposed stadium. If 4,000 seats were built, the requirement would be 1,000 parking spaces. To meet that requirement, 511 more parking spaces would need to be added at the high school location.

At City Park, home of the stadium today, a new stadium would be grandfathered under the code but Ruetschle said some new parking spaces would be recommended as a good faith effort. Possible added parking space identified by Brad Vath, assistant city manager, near the aquatic center would bring parking in the park near the stadium and aquatic center to 316 spaces.

The budget options for both sites were estimated at $5 million. If the numbers would come in less, the extra bond issue money could be directed to another athletic facility project, Ruetschle said.

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