Washington School District weighing $7M-plus field house project
The Washington School District Board of Education considered options for a comprehensive stadium upgrade project during a Monday night meeting.
A representative from HHSDR Architects Engineers’ Pittsburgh office presented three options ranging in scope from $7.1 million up to $8.9 million, not including track replacement and parking expansion components.
According to estimates presented by HHSDR Executive Vice President Andreas Dometakis, the first option would renovate and expand the current field house located along Tyler Avenue in Washington; the second would completely replace the current structure with a new building, and the third would construct a new field house on the opposite side of the football field across from the present building.
Dometakis also laid out an associated track replacement project and optional parking lot addition that would add over 120 new spaces on the southeast side of the current field.
The first option is estimated to cost about $7.1 million, the second at around $8.1 million with the third totaling just over $8.9 million.
The track replacement and parking lot installation are projected to cost about $3.5 million and $1 million, respectively, according to Dometakis’ presentation.
Dometakis said the entire project would take roughly one year to complete, assuming a start date sometime in spring 2027 and depending on the bidding process.
The first two options would render the current field house unusable for the duration of the construction, while the third option would leave the existing structure fully operational.
The track replacement, if included in the final project scope, would disrupt student-athlete use of the track, Dometakis said.
This would necessitate relocation of a currently undetermined number of practice and meet events while work is ongoing.
According to district Business Manager Emily DiNardo, funding for the project would come from a combination of existing capital reserves and a bond issue of currently undetermined scale.
Board President Amy Roberts said the district should seek input from both coaches and student-athletes who use the facility for feedback on the project and what would work best for their needs.
“I think the administrators should ask the coaches to meet with whomever on the board … to get their insights, which way they would prefer we go,” she said.
Roberts said the board will revisit the project discussion at its next meeting on June 15.