When the 2017 fall sports season officially begins Friday at Wayne Jamison Field, fans can expect what they usually see and that’s plenty of action from the Bridgeport High School student athletes. But when the Indians girls’ soccer team hosts Winfield in a season-opening match, there’s one thing they’re used to seeing that they won’t.

 

BHS Assistant Principal and Athletic Director Matt DeMotto, as well as the contractor for the new Johnson Elementary School project, have confirmed the new restroom facility will not be ready. However, patrons won’t have to walk to Bridgeport City Park to use restroom facilities.

 

“We’re not anticipating restrooms (this week) being ready and already have port-o-johns coming,” said DeMotto. “As for a timeline to when they’ll be completed, it’s obviously our hope that it will be sooner rather than later.”

 

What that means is that the first soccer games – both boys and girls – could see the use of portable toilets. Whether the restrooms will be ready when the Indians’ football team hosts their first game of the 2017 season on Sept. 1 remains to be seen.

 

“Certainly, it was our hope that the restrooms would be completed by the first event,” said DeMotto of the August 18 soccer game. “With the portable toilets coming that’s a pretty good sign that they won’t be in place for that game for sure.”

 

Beau Henderson of City Construction, the contractor handling the $17 million Johnson Elementary School project, also was hesitant to give a time frame for completion. The contractor is finishing up much of their work, but the Harrison County Board of Education is also doing finishing work on it as well.

 

“It’s progressing well and we would certainly like to have it completed, but we’re not 100 percent done,” said Henderson. “The biggest part left for us is the metal red roof that will match the roofing on other buildings inside the field area.”

 

DeMotto said as much as he would like to see it completed, he said it’s better to make sure it’s done correctly.

 

“This is a minor inconvenience and something we knew was a possibility,” said DeMotto. “It’s better to go this route as opposed to rushing things in order to get them finished.”

 

Henderson said the restroom building isn’t “anything fancy.” However, he said it’s going to be much better than the ones demolished to make room for the new JES footprint.

 

“It’s going to be a clean and new facility that should service the field for years to come,” he said.  

 

Editor's Note: Work was being done last week on the new restroom facility that will serve Jamison Field when complete. Bottom photo shows BHS Assistant Principal Matt DeMotto.