The Waunakee Board of Education has agreed to conduct an engineering assessment of the district’s softball fields before installing lights.
At their March 13 meeting, school board members heard a report from Randy Guttenberg about the plan. The recommendation was to have Rettler Corporation, the landscape design and architectural firm who provided services for Warrior Stadium and the varsity soccer field, assess the both the varsity and junior varsity softball fields to see which is better suited for light installation, causing the district to “take a pause until we get that information,” Guttenberg said.
A team center for both soccer and softball players has also been proposed for the area.
One idea as the soccer field was being developed was to build the new facility between the soccer and the JV softball field for athletes to stay warm, store their equipment and have a place to rest if injured.
“That’s still a concept out there that there’s still interest in,” Guttenberg said, adding before committing to that plan, the goal is to examine an existing concession and storage area between the soccer and baseball fields.
Rettler will also be asked to investigate that possibility.
“That’s been a question we’ve received,” Guttenberg said. “Why build a new building when you have something there? You just repurpose that or add onto it.”
An engineering study of the building can determine the feasibility.
“Before we make decisions we should have a solid assessment of what everything is,” Guttenberg added.
The board agreed to install lights at the softball field after a Title IX audit found inequity in the district’s athletic facilities and booster club funding structure. It was one of several recommendations stemming from the audit.
Title IX states, “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”
The softball field is the one district facility without lights.
