COAL GROVE, Ohio (WSAZ) – The Dawson-Bryant Local School District is making progress on much-needed upgrades to their sports facilities after being around for more than 50 years.
Two new facilities are currently in the works that will be used by the entire student body, not just athletes.
New plans for the future of Dawson-Bryant Local Schools have made it off the paper and onto the dirt, with progress moving on the two new multi-use facilities.
“I’ve been here for 20 years, and it seems like this is something we’ve talked about the whole time I’ve been here,” said Brad Miller, treasurer for Dawson-Bryant Local Schools. This community has always been his home.
The 6-foot-7 former athlete is no stranger to what the facilities used to be.
“I played four sports year round, football, baseball, basketball and I ran track,” Miller said. “That was my life in school growing up.”
Miller knows first hand how badly the old facilities needed an upgrade.
“It was just getting old and antiquated, and it got to the point where it was a little bit embarrassing and borderline dangerous,” he said.
So they decided to tear down and start fresh, with not just one building, but two.
“On one end of the campus you have a new athletic field house that’s going to have high school and junior high football lockers, coaches offices,” Miller said. “On the other end of campus we’re going to have an indoor turf facility building with a classroom off of it.”
Although it’s an indoor facility designed for sports, Miller anticipates anyone can use it when the weather acts up, like the band and flag teams. Plus, more facilities means better use of everyone’s time.
“The majority of our extra-curricular activities can happen right after school and we’re not having practices here until 8:30-9:30 at night,” Miller said.
Administration is excited for a new chapter for students and staff come fall.
“I think about all of the thousands of kids that are going to go through those buildings and benefit from that long after I’m gone or any of the rest of administration,” Miller said.
School officials say, as of now, they are on target with their goal of finishing the project within a year, which will be at the end of July.
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