March 28, 2024

H.A. Lynn Stadium press box to be replaced

Additional visitor press box included in the project

Replacement of the press box at H.A. Lynn Stadium has been on the Newton Community School District’s five-year plan list for more than five years.

The NCSD board was finally able to take significant action toward replacing the press box when it voted unanimously to approve a project designed by FRK Architects & Engineers on Monday.

The project, which has an estimated cost of somewhere close to $130,000, will go out for bid soon, and the proposed schedule would have demolition of the old press box would begin in May and finish before football season begins.

FRK’s Dave Briden made a presentation of the drawings at the meeting, with Superintendent Bob Callaghan and Newton High School Activities Director Scott Garvis discussing some of the safety issues at the stadium.

The home-side press box is a concrete press box with a wooden press box built over the top of it, and it has been modified and repaired many times through the years. Garvis describing one section as a “weekend project” that has reached a point in safety where action is necessary before next season.

Briden said that if things go smoothly, bids for construction proposals could go out in the next few weeks and be due around April 21, with a bid awarded within a week or so. The intent is to complete the work before football season gets underway.

NCSD Director of Business Services Gayle Isaac said the project will be paid for with sales-tax money that can only be used for these types of one-time expenses. The board has been taking efforts recently to refinance bonds so it isn’t paying off debt with money that can be used for projects such as the press box replacements.

Briden also made a presentation with drawings for the former Hy-Vee building on First Avenue West that will be used for administration and other purposes. That project will be detailed in an upcoming issue of the Newton Daily News.

Contact Jason W. Brooks at 641-792-3121 ext. 6532 or jbrooks@newtondailynew.com