CHAMPION SCHOOLS Board OKs bid-seeking for athletic complex to open next year

The district is looking at fund-raising options to pay for extras.
CHAMPION -- Plans are under way for a $1.1 million athletic complex, scheduled to open in the fall.
The board of education approved plans Monday that give Youngstown architects Ricciutti, Balog and Partners the go-ahead to draw up specifications and seek bids on the project.
The complex will be behind the high school and will include an all-weather track, bleachers, a press box, new concession stands and restrooms, a band shell, ticket booth and a locker room and weight-training area.
Bids will be sought first for the bleachers because that construction will take longest, officials said.
Funding: The district is pursuing a lease-purchase agreement, which Superintendent Pamela Hood said is like a loan, most likely financed over 15 years.
Officials looked at funding options and decided not to pursue a levy, Hood said.
Paying for the improvements won't be an added burden for the district, the superintendent said, because the district is preparing now to make the last payment on an $80,000 heating and ventilation upgrade project that began 10 years ago.
The payments for those upgrades will be the same amount applied toward the lease-purchase agreement, Hood explained.
A committee is being put together to look at ways to get the community involved in fund raising.
The loan will pay for the bulk of the project, with donations likely going to extras and niceties she said.