Seguin ISD bond projects including Matador Stadium near completion
31 Aug 2020
Seguin ISD, news
Seguin, TX, USA / Seguin Today
(Seguin) — The return to school this fall also means the welcoming of new and ongoing bond projects across the Seguin ISD. Bill Lewis, chief operating officer and associate superintendent for the Seguin ISD, presented the latest updates for the 2019 bond projects during a recent meeting of the Seguin ISD Board of Trustees.
Topping the list, of course, was the construction status for the new Seguin High School Matador Stadium. Lewis says the stadium, which was allocated $17.3 million in the bond issue, is set to officially open on Sept. 11.
“We are in the construction phase. We are at about 89 percent completion. It’s going quick here. Track and field was already been turned over and we’ve been using the track and the field area for a few weeks now for summer workouts. Home side bleachers is ongoing. It’s going pretty quick.
They were putting in the top railings, finishing the seats. They have the staircase that is there for the band to come down. There’s also a platform for the director or the drum major there in the stands to direct the band. It’s about a third of the way up and your dance team will be below. So, that’s all coming together there. I really like the way the ticket booths have come out. We have these nice limestone blockage instead of just doing poles. You know you have to do something to stop the car and we decided the limestone were a nice touch and it can also be used for people to sit on. Signage if you notice, we had additional signage that went up on the side of the home, it says Matador Stadium. It really just sticks out and the letters, that kind of aluminum metal stands out real nice. Plus, we’ve got Matador Stadium over each ticket booth. They had all the pole lighting on like around in the common areas and stuff and they are all LED lighting and it really has a nice trajectory down but it’s very bright and it shines really pretty and makes the place look great,” said Lewis.
Lewis says the stadium’s press box, is, of course, one of the other main features that is also set for completion in the next few days.
“Press box construction is ongoing. It’s going pretty quick. We are finishing in on the inside with tile work. It’s all painted. They are putting some finishing touches on all of those. We will be in in about a week or so to start installing all the technology items and I think on the 14th, we’ll be in to finish installing all the stuff that we have to run the scoreboard and the PA system and those kinds of things,” said Lewis.
Lewis says students at each of the elementary schools will also have plenty to celebrate as they return to a new playscape. In 2019, voters said “yes” to $1.8 million for new inclusive outdoor playscapes, multi-sensory play areas and shade canopies.
“The playgrounds are almost completely finished. They are all going to be ready to go for school starting so our kids are going to have nice, new playgrounds to jump out on there. All the sidewalk work that has gone out to make them accessible and give kids walking on those sidewalks when they are coming back into the schools – to reduce the amount of dirt especially when we really want to encourage our kids to be outside here in the fall – in that traffic to try to keep our schools a little bit cleaner and such and so we are excited about that. I think when they get back and see those playgrounds, it will make maybe somethings fade off a little bit when they see those nice playgrounds,” said Lewis.
Although, the Seguin ISD will be celebrating the completion of Matador Stadium and the new playscapes, the work for the district only continues as it tackles its largest project approved by voters in 2019. That project is the $39 million renovation, construction of A.J. Briesemeister Middle School at its current site.
“We’re about 100 percent finished on the pre-design. We are about 71 percent finished on the design and the bid process, again, it will go to bid around November. So, it’s coming up quick, November, December, we’ll start looking at going out for bid for AJB. We’ve had quite a few meetings trying to bring as many people as we can to those meetings to review, looking at color selections and reviewing all the spaces and bringing folks in to look at all their spaces and review those spaces and make sure we are on the right track moving forward. It started about a year and half almost two years ago, so it’s been a long time coming so the plans are moving forward,” said Lewis.
Lewis says because of the project’s timeline, the district is hoping to move into the new school in phases with the parking lot and cafeteria being among the first completed facilities.
Like Breezy, the Seguin ISD is also looking to tackle some much-needed renovations at Jefferson Avenue Elementary. Lewis says the plan for the district is to also go out for bid this fall. He says perhaps by bidding the two projects together, the district will get more bang for its buck.
“We do have the Jefferson Project going on as well. Again, kind of closing that corner off right there doing a lot of upgrades to the HVAC system, roofing, electrical, a lot of really aging items over there that we are going to give that first round facelift to. I think our $3.9 million for that project is going to go a long way. We’ve even added a few things we can do on the wish list if we come in under, we can maybe be able to add a few things over there as well as get that process going,” said Lewis.
Detailed bond updates are regularly provided to the public via the district’s website at seguinisd.net. Those updates can be found under the tab Bond 2019.
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