Written by Hayden Lara
The new building at the Algona High School campus, the Fieldhouse, is making steady progress. The Fieldhouse’s purpose is for all 7th through 12th grade Algona student athletes to have a place to practice on campus and at more reasonable times.
Having about 70 girls in volleyball, along with eight basketball teams competing at the same time through the year, and only having two full courts to practice on creates problems. The Fieldhouse will give more space for the sports teams, including more than volleyball and basketball, wrestling, track, and a bigger weight room will also benefit more athletes. The wrestling team will not need to resort to using the PAC stage for practice anymore. The track teams won’t be weighed down by northern Iowa weather limits for their opportunities, as the Fieldhouse will have indoor practice space. Everyone who lifts weights will have a bigger space and not be so crowded. As of right now, sometimes the lifting classes are five deep to a rack and don’t get all through the cycle in a class period.
The Fieldhouse is not limited to just high school students, but to middle school students as well. Right now, student athletes in middle school practice at other locations, including Lucia Wallace and OB Laing. Tate Garman, one of the track runners, says, “I’m pretty excited. It will be a benefit for us athletes with the bigger weight room, and the indoor track will help with weather.”
Atura Architecture is the architect and Kingland Construction is the general contractor for the project. Atura Architecture has planned the building to have four wooden courts, two additional courts that are located on the track surface, a 80x80 wrestling room, a new weight room, a 200m track, and a batting cage.
The Fieldhouse project costs $13.1 million, funded by the Secure and Advanced Vision for Education, or SAVE tax for short, a one cent sales tax disturbed to all school districts in Iowa. The district has other needs, including needing a new elementary building to house students between the grades of prekindergarten through fifth grade, so extra additions were not included, like a pool. The SAVE tax isn’t enough to fund the elementary project, being more than the SAVE tax generates, so the Fieldhouse was the first project and the elementary building will be the next big project for the school district.