Anyone that’s been to Wayne Jamison Field in recent days may get the feeling something’s missing. Those people would be right.

Right now, Jamison Field is a bit naked. There are no bleachers on the home side of the football field. Across the way on the visitor’s side, there’s a gaping hole where bleachers used to be in the middle of the still relatively new sections that were put up several years ago. In the end zone near Simpson Creek, the mammoth scoreboard is gone.

 

For those worried that a crafty materials thief had a nifty haul, there’s no need to worry. And for those aware of what’s going on and are worried new bleachers and a new scoreboard will be absent come opening day August 24 – again – there’s no need to worry.

 

With the old bleachers demolished and gone and the scoreboard taken away for scrap thanks to one Harrison County Board of Education-funded project (the bleachers) and a privately funded project in the scoreboard, things at Jamison Field look as different as it did before the new track and new artificial surface were put into place. The current look should be replaced with a look even better than when the scoreboard and bleachers were in place, and that look should be coming in the next several weeks.

 

“With the bleachers, everything is out at this point. The concrete footer should be coming soon,” said DeMotto.

 

Although DeMotto checks in regularly on the project’s progress, it is under the auspices of the Harrison County Board of Education, which has the responsibility to make sure the bleachers are complete before the opening kickoff. DeMotto said he’s had assurances from the foreman on the project that such will be the case.

 

“Everything should be fine for opening day,” DeMotto said.

 

Another thing that is missing is the tunnel from the field house/locker room/press box facility onto the field. It was demolished at the same time. DeMotto said the new bleachers will actually be built around the entranceway to the field. He also said community members are welcome to volunteer time, labor and materials to get that project done.

 

“That’s something we’d hope to have completed for the first game. We’re certainly hoping to get some volunteers to assist in that effort,” DeMotto said. Anyone wishing to help can contact the school at 304-842-3693.

 

As for the scoreboard, DeMotto and others at BHS are more closely involved. He said this coming Friday the holes should be drilled to set in the scoreboard. It’s during this drilling that many answers will be determined as it relates to the actual cost of installing the new scoreboard.

If there are no issues relating to the soils and the rock, the holes that are drilled could be completed and ready by early the following week; perhaps Monday or Tuesday. However, if there are issues with the drillers hitting rock at an area such as eight feet when the recommended drilling depth is 18 feet, it could prove costly.

 

“We’d have to find a driller that can get through the rock and it will add to the cost,” DeMotto said. “At the same time, if we drill down to 14 feet and our engineer says the soil and everything is good at that point, we could stop there and save money. It’s just an unknown.”

 

The old scoreboard has been removed. Individuals that believe that consideration wasn’t given to break up the scoreboard and get rid of the pieces are under the wrong assumption. DeMotto said had anyone offered to break up the scoreboard, which would likely have been costly and taken time, then it may have been considered. However, the scoreboard needed to be taken down and removed and the school did what he said was felt to be the most cost effective manner.

 

“I seriously doubt any of the previous scoreboards were taking down methodically and then sold. Tradition is not in metal, it’s in wins of the field,” DeMotto said.

 

 

 

So, Who Are the QBs in the Big 12 This Year?

by John Antonik

Budding trees and cotton-like clouds create a picture-perfect border around Bridgeport Presbyterian Church.