Athletic boosters have sights set on brighter Mapleleaf complex

BY KARYN SPORY

Mt. Pleasant News

A brighter Mapleleaf, that?s what Activity Director Scot Lamm and the Mt. Pleasant Athletic Boosters would like to see of the athletic complex.

?Two years ago, when we decided not to move forward with a bond issue to do any kind of facility improvement, the athletic booster club kind of took it on to make sure we do the best we can with Mapleleaf and what we?ve got,? he said.

Since then, the organization has been raising money and completed several projects including the fencing and the interior of the locker rooms.

?Our next major project, we?re looking at redoing all the lighting at Mapleleaf,? said Lamm. ?When Mapleleaf was put in in 1979 it was clearly one of the best facilities, certainly in Southeast Iowa and probably across the state, but since then we haven?t done a whole lot to it other than use it and we?ve used it well.?

Lamm said he has been in contact with Musco Lighting and received quotes for the lighting project. The project would entail replacing all of the lighting on the football field, for now. Lamm hopes in the future to replace the lighting at the softball/baseball fields. The plan for the football field is to take out all of the light poles and bring in new poles and lights. The lights would shine on both the football field, track, throwing venue and the area where the band competition is hosted.

Lamm said Musco did light readings on the field. The current lighting levels were averaging 25. ?What we would be putting out there would average 50, so it?s safe to say we?ll have twice as much light on the football field and track area,? explained Lamm.

Lamm said the lights from Musco also have a 25-year warranty.

?Luckily, we have some alumni that work for Musco and we have gotten quite a deal from them,? he added, saying it was almost a 30 percent savings.

?Is it a Cadillac, no, is it nice, yes,? Lamm said of the project.

The grand total of the project would be roughly $210,000. Lamm said $134,000 would be Musco?s costs and the rest would be electrician costs, which were quoted out by Mohrfeld Electric, of Ft. Madison, which is doing a similar project in Mediapolis right now. Lamm noted the athletic boosters have received a $50,000 grant specific for lighting the football field.

Mike Mohrfeld said his quote included setting up the electric infrastructure in order to light other athletic fields in the future.

?I?m concerned with air conditioning in our elementary schools,? said board member Joy Conwell, stating that she didn?t want to take on a project that might divert funds away from bringing cool air to the little kids.

Lamm said he was also concerned with bringing air conditioning to the elementary schools, but he didn?t want to wait on lighting the field until the athletic complex goes dark during an event, which would be a safety issue.

?Every district in Southeast Iowa comes to Mapleleaf. And the sad truth of it is, we?re in competition for students. They don?t get to come into our classrooms, but if they come to Mapleleaf and see our fields, that may sway them to (enroll) at Mt. Pleasant,? said Lamm.

Interim Superintendent Dr. John Roederer said everyone agrees that air conditioning the elementary schools were a priority, but that lighting Mapleleaf was ?a good project? and should be looked into.

The question for the board was, how much were the athletic boosters going to contribute?

Lamm said the organization could raise what was needed, but booster president John Pullis made a good point about fundraising in a small town, ?this is a town of 9,000 people, the businesses are hit every day for fundraising. We?re getting away from that. We?re looking for the school board to be an active participant in our projects, whatever they may be,? he said. ?Also, instead of coming to these local businesses and asking year after year after year to contribute, we?re hosting basketball tournaments, we?re bringing that money from other communities here and using it for our benefit.?

Roederer suggested getting a few members of the athletic boosters together with the site and finance committees to discuss the project and avenues that could be taken to finance the lighting system.

Roederer also made it very clear that the district would have to be careful of it?s involvement because if the district helped to foot the bill, they would have to open the project to bidding from other companies.

Roederer also added the city is looking at paving the Mapleleaf complex parking lot and would have a grant to cover over half of the million dollar project. Roederer said the district might have to put some skin in the game and finance a portion of the project as well.

The board agreed to have the site and finance committees look into the lighting project.

In other business, the board heard a report from the middle school student council. The board also approved an Area Education Agency purchasing agreement for food services and sent the senior year plus guidelines back to the policy committee for further review.

For more information regarding Monday night?s board meeting, see tomorrow?s edition of The News.