Over spring break, administration is installing new bleachers at the baseball and softball fields funded by a $350,000 grant from the Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority.
The bleachers are not only going to expand the amount of people able to watch the game, but also install a press box which allows scorekeepers, media and coaches to manage the game from within an enclosed room. AIA Director and Assistant Principal Jennifer Burks elaborates, “So the bleachers we have are very small, and don’t often always fit our crowds that come and watch those games.” Burks and administrators hope that the new bleachers provide further seating for the baseball and softball crowds, they also are looking forward to the desk that will be built into the press boxes, with the scoreboard being controlled from the press box, as previously the scorekeepers were sitting next to the dugouts, where they could not see the whole field from the angle.
When the school was built, it was built with what is referred to as facility money, meaning that every school in the district was given the minimum amount of funding for its necessities and building. Burks further explains, “All of the other schools in the district already have these expanded bleachers, and so basically we knew that we needed to at least get on equal footing with the rest of the schools in our district.” The expanded bleachers, given in the form of a grant by the Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority will cost $350,000, none of which will be paid for by the district or by taxpayers due to the grant. Burks further commentates, “We were most recently told by the district that it’ll be over spring break. So that’s of course a tentative date, but that’s what we’re shooting for.” The spring break goal of having the bleachers completed by then is uncertain, however a lack of delays in construction could ensure the bleachers are completed by the time students return for fourth quarter.
Overall the new bleachers are going to provide more space for the crowds watching home baseball and softball games, providing them with more space and resources than the previous bleachers had. The new bleachers are overall a benefit to the baseball and softball teams, giving them new technology to keep track of the score and larger crowd sizes for their games.
