Local high school is getting a stadium. Here’s when it will be built
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AMMON – For the first time in its 30-year history, Hillcrest High School in Ammon is getting its own stadium.
Assistant Principal Tyler Mills tells EastIdahoNews.com the groundbreaking for the 90,000-square-foot venue will happen this spring. It will be built on the south side of the school where the current soccer field is located.
“We’re thrilled to be able to offer this for our school and for our community,” Mills says.
Administrators are hoping the stadium will be complete by the end of the summer, just in time for the new school year in September.
The turf area of the field will be 130 yards by 76 yards, and the bleachers will have a seating capacity of about 3,000 people. There will also be a courtyard area inside the stadium for concessions, along with locker rooms and parking spaces on the west side of the stadium.
The cost of the project is around $2.2 million. Multiple donors have provided funding for it, including Westmark Credit Union, which provided the initial $1.5 million.
“That donation was able to get us going on the turf, the bleachers,” Mills explains. “It will be our official name sponsor. It will be called Westmark stadium.”
Teton Toyota provided a scoreboard for the stadium. NBW Architecture and Harper-Leavitt Engineering, the firms involved in the stadium’s design and construction, are donating their services.
“Right now, those are our big main sponsors that we’re really grateful for. They really stepped up in helping us get the project going,” says Mills.
Mills is looking for additional funding for lighting and other amenities. The plan is to sell seating in the bleachers to a sponsor and decorative bricks for the courtyard area. Local businesses can also purchase signs with their name and logo, which will be posted throughout the stadium.
Hillcrest and Bonneville high schools have shared a stadium since 1992. That association has created a unique rivalry between the schools for sporting events and other activities.
Getting a stadium at Hillcrest has been a conversation for a long time, but it really started to gain momentum about three or four years ago.
“Larry Stocking, our athletic director, has really been pushing for it the last several years. Him and Scott Miller, our principal who retired last year, were able to procure that large donation from Westmark and that really got the ball rolling,” Mills explains.
Mills is excited to see the project finally come to fruition after so many years, and he wants it to be a space that the entire community benefits from.
“It’s going to be (used heavily) by boys and girls soccer leagues, football; we are putting lacrosse lines on it as well,” says Mills. “We’d love to host an outdoor cheer competition or band competition, anything that shows off the great things our kids are doing to get people into the stadium.”
If you’re interested in contributing to the project or becoming a sponsor, contact Mills directly at (208) 525-4429 or email millst@d93mail.com.
