Administration has begun planning for the construction of a new press box on the campus, following the approval of funding from the district. The expected time of completion for the construction of the press box is the end of spring break, and its budget is approximately $300,000.

Considering that many other schools in the district already have a press box, Vice Principal Halbuer explained West Shore’s need to be on par.

“Just because we’re West Shore doesn’t mean that our facility shouldn’t be equitable to all the other high school facilities,” Halbuer said. “I [as well as Mr. Fleming and everybody on our campus] understand that we don’t have football, but we still have other sports. We need a competitive field. We have the field. But we don’t have a press box [that can help make it competitive].”

Although some have not been approved yet, the plans for the new press box will bring many changes. According to Halbuer, because of factors like accessibility to electricity, the press box will be constructed between the bleachers at the fifty-yard line. In addition, she plans to have it built up, in order to not obstruct the view of game spectators, as well as the sports announcers.

Additionally, Principal Rick Fleming said that there will be two sets of bleachers on either side of the press box. This will be done with the removal of the palm trees to the right of the stands, as well as the extension of the concrete pads on both sides. On one side of the press box will be the home stands, called the Wildcat Den. The other side will be the visitor stands.

Fleming also detailed the interior advantages of the press box.

“[The press box] is going to be set up with all the electricity for the speakers and for people who are calling the game,” Fleming said. “What happens now is while they’re calling the game out here, [there’s lots of] noise. Now, it’ll be in a closed building and it’ll be raised [and] higher so they can see the game [better] while they’re announcing.”

The press box will be used for Powderpuff and games for the boys’ and girls’ lacrosse teams, as well as the boys’ and girls’ soccer teams. Halbuer also recognized its use in an evacuation.

“If we do have to evacuate or be out there [for extended periods of time], then we’ve got a place with air-conditioning,” Halbuer said. “If there’s somebody with a medical issue that needs air conditioning, they could be treated out there. If we can’t get into the facility, we’ll be able to communicate better, because [communication equipment] will all be out there to get hooked up and just turned on versus us having to bring [it] out there.”

According to Halbuer, this new addition to the campus had been in the works for quite a while.

“We had put in a request for the concession stand and the press box at the same time [before COVID], and [the district] had approved the purchase with a maximum price of around $300,000 for both of the items,” Halbuer said. “Then COVID hit, and everything got frozen. [During that time], pricing went through the roof. So when COVID was lifted more, they got back on it and their pricing was [almost] double. So it had to go back to the school board to [get approval to] spend that money for the concession stand, and [after a few meetings], that got done. And then the district still knew we needed the press box. So they started working through that process [as well].”

By Kristen Ye