Greenway Renovations
- Thread starter cumbfanatic
- Start date
very sad with the shape that the Middle Schools are in and with Consolidation right around the corner that they are spending $5 Million on the stadium as this point.
3.5 million came from Western MD Delegation and 1.5 million was from Recovery Acts Fund, so they say it’s not from their budget.
yeah I seen that when I picked my son up from school, I hear they are adding a lane to the track and possibly a new press box so that we can have 3 radio stations carry the football games because some people can't tune in to one station over the other. lol
it just makes no sense to me on how bad Cumberland and Allegany County are right now and they are getting grants and funding for things such as this.
Greenway Ave Stadium is the only facility used by both Cumberland high schools. Even with consolidation this will be the facility used. Soccer, Football, Track and Band for two schools. There is long term investment here.
I'm not in favor of consolidation based on enrollments. Both Alco and FH are not small schools unless one is using a Maryland chart where metro area schools set the standard for enrollment. As I have said many, many times: Alco and FH are large to mid-size schools in WV and PA. But if PG, Montgomery and Baltimore Counties are your measuring stick...no thank you here. Maryland would f**k up a one man funeral.
If there is a plan that shows me how Allegany County saves money with consolidation at this point I am open to listening. The major screw up was building a new Allegany HS that holds less than 800 students when the state was funding the jest of the project. That was when the consolidation should have happened. Now it's too late with funding.
The $5 million funding earmarked for Greenway Ave doesn't touch the ginormous amount required for consolidation. There is no setting this minute amount of money aside for such a thing.
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The Greenway Ave Stadium Capital Improvement fund secured 1.5 million in state funds. The BOE is kicking in about 3.5 million. The county had to approve the BOE transfer of funds and the county’s also kicking in a little to make the whole thing work.
The press box/concessions renovation in not part of this work. That will be a different future project that is not funded or scheduled at this time.
The press box/concessions renovation in not part of this work. That will be a different future project that is not funded or scheduled at this time.
What is there... one, maybe two games a year anymore where the visiting side is necessary? Put a few portable stands over there for overflow and save the money. Hell, pay for a few stands and let Allegany play on the practice field at its school. They might not even fill them up.
And it wasn't the state the messed the track up. We'd still be using Beall and Old Allegany if it wasn't for the state, which literally changed its old funding formula just to accommodate how little money we had for Mountain Ridge.
Spending pandemic funds on stadium seating in a county as poor as Allegany is the equivalent of being broke and using the $1,400 stimulus check to buy an Xbox and Playstation.
Some very good points. I mean, bleacher seating isn't needed anymore at Greenway. Not even for Homecoming. The track I do get. Which brings to mind a better question...why does rebuilding bleachers and shifting/widening a track by one lane come to a $5 million price tag? The hammer costs $500 and the nail costs $100. Insane. For $5 million they should be able to build two press boxes. But that is not the world we live in.
I agree they should fix the track. Its not the track athletes fault. How you mess it up to begin with🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️????
And absolutely, 5 million is more than enough for what they say they are fixing. A press box, a medical facility and a nice locker room could have been built for that much. I know FH would still want to run down the steps, but they could use the locker room for halftime stuff. Instead we get an extra lane and new seats that will probably never be fully utilized.
Yes, it’s a lot of money. Construction costs and materials area at an all-time high. You’re underestimating the amount of excavation work, retaining walls, drainage, etc. that has to be done to make this work. Look at an aerial photo of the stadium and you will see how many changes to the site are needed to add one lane and shift the track towards the scoreboard, while keeping a walking apron around the outside of the track.
The visitor bleachers need to be altered for the 8th lane. Since the bleachers are not up to current code, They cannot be modified in any way and must be replaced. This will include a new handicap seating arrangement for the visitor side. There is no drainage in place on the visitor side. Many times, there is mud on the apron and even on the turf after a heavy rain.
One thing leads to another. The track condition is bad. No quick resurface will work. If your’e going to redo the track, then add a lane. To add a lane, bleachers come in to play. If you are doing bleachers, then drainage needs to be addressed along with handicap seating at that time. A larger walkway outside the concessions is recommended. The new beaches plan will allow for this, which will make concession/press box replacement easier. And so it goes……
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High cost is nothing new to all BOE projects. The Allegany Field House in the corner of Greenway had a price tag of half a million dollars if I recall correctly. It is a very small and simple cinder block/brick square configuration with no showers or lockers for the players. Only a hook in cinder block to hang your uniform. It looks like an unfinished garage on the in side. For half of that amount my parents bought property on Hilcrest Drive and build a luxury home complete with 3 showers that is 3 times the size of the Allegany Field House at Greenway. Embarrassing the way BOE money and regulations flow.
I wrote a similar article for the Times-News in 2015 ripping the cost of building the new Allegany High School Athletic Fields. After writing it I was fearful I may end up at the bottom of Lake Habeeb with cement shoes...because that is how the mob works when one questions the process of money flow.
LINK: Build a new Allegany Athletic Field yourself
Don't wish to sound bitter. Greenway is a long term investment and I applaud getting the improvements done and more important applaud and appreciate the people who got this done. It's not easy. I am just blown away that $5 million can't build everything including two new press boxes. If this was a private adventure, it would.
Unfortunately, the size of the bleachers will never be an issue anymore with attendance at any event.
Might have been like $328,00? Cannot remember exactly. But for the price it's a straight small cinder block garage for the most part. The referee locker room in there is tiny but at least has a shower.
Although it needed done, horrible timing here! FH track and field cannot use the stadium and Allegany refused to allowed them at their facility so I've heard. FH has to go all the way to Ridge for home meets. What about practice? Where are they going to practice? They couldn't do this renovation in June/ July?
Way back in the early 70's we went to ACC and used their facilities. I'm wondering if they kept up their track. Of course then what about the field events. Maybe FSU would be willing to help out, if for nothing else, they could get some local athletes on campus.
The problem is transportation. My son will be on the track team. I cannot get him to another location for practice after school then pick him back up less than 2 hours later during a work day. Talk about a cluster.
I feel for you. This is going to be a cluster. It looks like every event will be affected except maybe the 100. I don't know how they are going to prepare for events that they can't practice, but Alkire has shown that he does well when he's thinking outside of the box. Good Luck to your son!
This is what I heard so not sure how accurate. I also heard FH is having home meets at Ridge. Again, not sure but will find out in the coming weeks where things are going to be held for FH..
