By Drew Terhall

DailyAdvocate.com

BRADFORD — Friday Aug. 25 is going to be a big day for Bradford Exempted Village School District. Not only does the football team return to play a home game, they will be playing on their new field for the first time.

Superintendent Joe Hurst said the school had an original proposal back in 2006 to get a new field and track, but the efforts never brought results. When Hurst was hired in 2017 and athletic director Chloe Thompson was hired in 2019, the both of them got to work on getting this project done.

Hurst said seeing the field coming together has been exciting and it’s starting to have a positive effect on the district.

“We’re excited about this program. Not only is it something that we’re proud of here in our district, but others around us are seeing it and our enrollment is increasing. We can say it’s part of this and I believe it’s part of that, but to see positive things not only in our facilities but our enrollment to back it up is amazing,” Hurst said.

Thompson said it was overwhelming at times getting quotes from different companies and figuring out what the programs needs in their facility. Thompson reached out to other athletic directors around the area, including receiving a lot of help from Covington AD Ashley Johnson, to see who they used for their facilities and what they liked and disliked about different facilities.

At first, Hurst and Thompson looked at renovating their old field. But after getting more information, they found out it was better to start from scratch.

“We had originally thought that we were going to be over there (old field) and renovate what’s over there. When it came down to it we really looked at the space we had there, it wasn’t going to make sense monetarily to renovate and we didn’t have the space we needed to make eight lanes,” Thompson said.

Hurst said the construction didn’t seem possible until the community voted to support the project in November 2021 for a third of the cost. After a debt expired, it paved the way for the approval of a track levy that added no additional cost to taxpayers.

The new bond issue generated $1.705 million for the project. Another $1.705 came from the general fund and another $1.705 came from certificates of participation payable over 20 years. All three funds helped bring the field to life.

Thompson said she is thankful Hurst and treasurer Carla Surber have done a lot of the behind the scenes work to make this possible. Surber was at Greenville before and has experience navigating through the work of getting a new facility built.

A positive of building from scratch is that they can have the field behind the school and next to the softball and baseball fields. Thompson said she loves having a real campus feel at the school with having all of the school’s facilities together.

She also hopes the new field helps bring more kids to the track program and the football program. So far, the new field could have helped bring the football program back to the varsity level with having more than enough kids to play.

“We have a great gym and basketball has been great in the last couple of years. Softball and baseball both have great facilities. We haven’t necessarily had a great, by any normal standard, track or football season yet because those kids don’t have a place to go, a place to call home,” Thompson said. “They have a new place to call home now. We’re hoping that’s going to build our track program, our track numbers and obviously help with football. It’s done so already.”

The duo has some big plans in mind for the field and the track down the road. Hosting football games, band events and conference track meets are just the tip of the iceberg.

Thompson said down the road, they hope to be able to host track invitationals and be in the running to host a district track meet if that opportunity presents itself.

The project is not complete right now. Hurst said they still need to build a building for restrooms, concessions and a multipurpose room for the school to use regularly. After that phase is done, their next phase is to build a proposed 12,000 square foot multipurpose building that will have locker rooms and a basketball court.

Hurst said the funding from the previous phases will help provide money for the upcoming ones. They will also have a fundraising campaign to help with the next phases.

“There will be a fundraising campaign for the next phase of the project to enhance the multipurpose building. Those wishing to contribute will be recognized by have signage to show their support of the school, the students and their community,” Hurst said.

But for now, everyone is excited to be hosting a football game this upcoming week.

“Hosting a home football game on the new football field with 820 seat bleachers is a dream come true. We have planned for every aspect that could allow this field and stadium to bring Railroader pride for years to come. To encourage our grass growth, we may not be able to paint the 50-yard line like we have in the past years, but we will return to decorating the field next fall when the grass is fully established. The vision of track meets this spring is inspirational,” Hurst said.

“While it’s super exciting, it’s also scary because there’s still so many things not completed out there yet that we’re hoping will be done for next season. For 2023, it’s going to be a learning curve,” Thompson said.

The Railroaders will take on Cincinnati Country Day on Aug. 25 with kickoff set for 7 p.m.

Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected]