Jefferson City Public Schools is moving forward with the purchase of a new video scoreboard for Adkins Stadium and plans to renovate other parts of the stadium.
Approximately $525,000 worth of scoreboard ads with five-year agreements have been committed to pay for the new digital scoreboard, JCPS chief financial and operating officer Jason Hoffman said.
JCPS Board of Education voted in August to select South Dakota-based Daktronics as the vendor for new scoreboards, but the district was not committed to any specific purchases by that vote.
"We entered into a contract with Daktronics to help us with marketing of ad sales on the scoreboards," Hoffman said at the Jan. 14 school board meeting. He told the school board then that all ads had been sold except for one "anchor spot" and two spots on 25-second clocks.
Hoffman said after the meeting the ads were sold to 15 different companies, and the district was going to purchase the scoreboard that week - to be ready in time for the current track season. He said in August it was anticipated to be an 18-by-32-foot LED board.
He also said last week the school board would not have to approve the purchase of the scoreboard itself.
"We have the revenue (for the football scoreboard). We're going to continue to get additional revenue and that will stay in an activity account to go into the athletic department. We're just letting you know we have the money and we're now ready to move forward," he told the school board.
"No bond money at all is going to go toward the video board on the football stadium," Hoffman said, though he added that bond issue money approved by voters two years ago for construction of the district's second high school and renovation of its existing one will pay for new basketball video scoreboards at the gyms of both schools.
It's anticipated Capital City High School will play football for at least a few years at Adkins, because the second high school will open in August with only a practice field. The renovation of Jefferson City High School's current gym is anticipated to be completed this summer, with the new auxiliary gym planned to be finished in October. CCHS' gyms are expected to be completed in December, though the hope is it will happen sooner.
Hoffman said Adkins scoreboard ads were sold on behalf of Jefferson City Public Schools - not JCHS or Jefferson City Jays. He said in August what would be on the video scoreboard at Adkins could be adjusted to reflect the colors and mascot of CCHS - royal blue and silver Cavaliers - and different statistics for different sports such as track and soccer.
Also at its Jan. 14 meeting, JCPS Board of Education approved a $28,000 contract with The Architects Alliance for professional services related to the planned renovation of Adkins Stadium's press box and Weber Locker Room Building.
"I don't know if any of you have been outside the Weber Building and noticed on especially the east side, the paint's coming off - mainly because there's no insulation between the block and the paint," said Frank Underwood, the district's director of facilities and transportation.
Underwood said when athletes use the facility and the heat and humidity inside rise, moisture seeps through the masonry and pushes the paint off the walls. He added the building has been painted three or four times, with different vendors, and it hasn't fixed the problem.
Architects Alliance recommends a "new exterior veneer envelope" for the building - which means strip the paint; add a vapor barrier; caulk joints; replace the existing windows and sills; paint the existing doors and frames on both sides; and everything it takes to disassemble and then reassemble the building's exterior, including metal stairs, signs and asphalt.
Underwood said interior improvements to locker rooms would be bid as alternates - which means work would be completed if funds are available: "Paint interior surfaces damaged or stained by water infiltration. As directed by the owner, replace existing stained or damaged ceiling tile throughout (match existing adjacent tile). Install new flooring within locker rooms, remove carpet from locker bases and replace with more durable/cleanable material," according to Architects Alliance's proposal.
Architects Alliance also recommends repainting the press box and all its exterior surfaces - including both sides of exterior doors and window frames.
The renovation work itself will still have to be competitvely bid out, and approximately 5 percent of Architects Alliance's work will be to print, advertise and distribute contract documents and assist in other ways in the bidding process.