Winfield schools break ground on new stadium

WINFIELD — Winfield City Schools broke ground on its new football and track stadium facility, which will also include a new softball concession stand, on Tuesday, Oct. 22.
Members of the school board and city council joined with football coach David McKinney, track and field coach Steve Reaves and long-time supporter of Winfield athletics Parker Spann at the site as ground work begins for the new complex.
The new complex was first approved last year and will include a new football field, a new track and a new concession stand for the softball field.
The new stadium will be located next to the school’s existing multipurpose indoor athletic building to take advantage of the existing facilities like the locker room.
The Winfield City Schools board of education voted in a meeting on Friday, Dec. 15, 2023, to approve the issue of bond warrants to fund the stadium and other ongoing capital projects.
The board released plans last year to construct new facilities and help cover the cost of roof repairs at the elementary school and high school, which are underway.
The school bond issue totaled $12 million. Superintendent Randy Thomley explained what the funds from the bond will go toward.
“It will be used for several capital projects, including a track, football stadium, softball concessions, career tech classrooms and a portion of funding for both of the roof projects,” Thomley said. “It is going to help us to have very good facilities. I also believe it will be a tremendous asset to the community and the schools.”
The board, the city and the park all entered into an agreement last November in which the city would continue to support the school by extending the current sales tax apportionment to go toward paying the bond.
The 4 percent sales tax appropriation has been in place for around 40 years and has funded important capital projects in the school’s history, such as the building of the high school in 1998 and the multipurpose athletic facility.
As part of the agreement, the school has agreed to help pay for a new gymnasium to be built by the park, which is something the park has been trying to accomplish for a long time. Also, as part of the agreement, the school will have access to the new gym when they need it if it’s not being used by the park at that same time.
The park’s gym project is also underway. The ongoing dirt work for the stadium is being done by Robertson Excavating Co., which is also doing work for the park’s new gym, allowing the dirt removed from one site to be used for the other and vice versa.