COLUMBIANA District to review plans for complex

Donors have given about $20,000 for the athletic complex through a naming-rights program.
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
COLUMBIANA -- School officials are hoping area residents and business owners want to continue playing the name game.
Superintendent Dr. Joseph Rottenborn said the board of education will review plans Wednesday for an athletic complex to be built adjacent to the high school-middle school on Columbiana-Waterford Road.
The board will meet at 5:30 p.m. in the high school commons.
Rottenborn said the board hopes to have secured some naming rights by the time the board reviews bids for the project at its Nov. 7 meeting.
The complex, which will be built on property adjacent to the high school-middle school on Columbiana-Waterford Road, will include a football-soccer field for middle school football and high school soccer teams, an all-weather track, for middle school and high school track teams, handicap-accessible bleacher seating for 300, a concession stand with restrooms and storage, locker rooms, and office space for coaches and officials.
Naming rights program: Rottenborn said the district's naming rights program allows the public to buy interior or exterior space in the school district, and that area will carry the buyer's name for a specified period.
So far about $20,000 has been donated to the district through the program.
As the board was finalizing plans for its new $7 million high school, members decided to "sell" sections of the school as a way of generating revenue for the district.
Pizza Hut, for example, has naming rights to the indoor concession stands near the high school and middle school gyms. Both gymnasiums remain available, he noted.
Area residents or business owners, alumni, etc., may buy naming rights to any area of the school district, not just the high school and middle school, Rottenborn said.
Indoor space is available for $1 per foot, and outdoor areas are sold for 25 cents per foot.