INDIANAPOLIS — Tuesday, school leaders broke ground at Broad Ripple Middle School for it's new athletic field.
"It was really cool because we've never had a big field. We've always had to go to other fields," said Meek.
Future 8th grader at Broad Ripple Middle School, Rosemary Meek, spends most of her time outside of the classroom, on an athletic field.
The soccer, basketball, softball and track star is excited that her school will have playing and competition-level turf fields that were previously only available to high school students.
"It's just cool to have our own teams, our own fields. We don't have to be co-ed bigger school, so we will have enough to be a team, because at my school, we never had enough girls to be a team," said Meek.
The lighting at the stadium will be upgraded. The track will also be fixed up, and made ADA accessible.
Other renovations include:
-Upgraded HVAC and plumbing
-New pavement
-Stage curtains
-Interior floors
-Interior lighting
-Exterior doors
-Increased security through card access and cameras
-Renovated athletic facilities
-New storage building
-drainage improvements
The money for the project comes from a $410 million capital referendum plan approved by taxpayers.
"You asked, we gave and now we are keeping our promise," said Superintendent Dr. Aleesia Johnson.
Rebuilding Stronger, we are going to have much more enrollment, so having enough girls to fill a team won't be nearly the issue as it was at our smaller schools. That's one of the reasons why we are moving forward with rebuilding stronger," said District Director of Athletics, Darren Thomas.
IPS said there is more than $1.2 billion in deferred maintenance for schools across the district. The referendum addresses part of that gap.
Broad Ripple Middle was one school needing attention, as 30% of it's building was found to be in poor condition, per IPS.
While changes on the inside have happened, pediatrician and mom of three, Ariel Stilwell, said the outside is just as important.
"Having access to athletics and sports can really help a child in their development, especially learning how to work well with other people and as a team," she said. "The excessive amounts of depression and anxiety that we had in kids during the pandemic, them being able to come out and be part of the team is going to do so much."
For construction-related questions, contact the project manager, Pierre Hamilton, at Tikur Solutions. phamilton@tikursolutions.com
IPS Rebuilding Stronger constructions projects can be found at www.myips.org.
