Stadium construction to remain underway throughout season

By Jayson Knight
editor@tuttletimes.com

As school gets started, one thing that follows closely behind is the start of football season.
As anybody who has driven by any time in the last few months can attest, construction on Tuttle’s Richison Family Stadium has been near-constant this summer.
Despite all the hard work, construction is not yet complete on the press box or the field house.
Tuttle Public Schools Superintendent Keith Sinor said Friday, “We had an unusually rainy early summer, so it caused us some delays, but the company is doing a good job of making up time.”
The school will have its contractors continue the construction throughout the season, so that the seniors will have a chance to utilize the new field house by the end of it. The press box will not be finished by the end of the season, which will create some logistics issues for the assistant coaches that typically relay information from there to coaches on the sideline.
Fans will be expected to avoid a sectioned off portion of the home-side stands where coaches will perform those duties.
“We will continue on working,” Sinor said. “The field house we’re hoping to have done near the end of the season, so that we can at least maybe play one or two games where our seniors who have seen it going up will have an opportunity to be able to use it. That’s our hope, but as construction goes, things do happen.
“The press box is going to be a little bit, but definitely by next season it will be done. We’re hoping to have it done by December, January, somewhere around there.”
Everything on the visitors side is complete, from the stands to the new bathrooms and concession stand.
One of the things that has kept the football team on its toes throughout the construction process is the way the team has had to approach the field. With concrete being poured all around it, and construction zones that must be avoided, players and coaches have had to change that route from time to time.
Tuttle fans will be able to approach the field from the north and south, but the south side of the field will remain the best way to get to the stadium.
Sinor said, “We will have some things set up for people so that they can approach from the north to where people can still park to the north. The best way to come in is definitely going to be from the south side, the Highway 37 side. People park along Highway 37 and then walk in. There will be the least amount of obstruction that way, rather than coming in from the north. For varsity games, you’re still going to be able to get in through the north, but there will be a section cordoned off so that everybody knows (which areas to avoid.) It’s going to be uncomfortable for another season, and it’s already nice, but when it’s all said and done, it’s going to be much nicer for everybody.”
The Tuttle band will move back to the much-larger bleachers this season. The home-side bleachers will seat about 2,304 this season, up from about 1,500. The away-side will now seat about 1,070, up from around 500.
The Tuttle Tigers will host their season opener Friday, August 25 at 7 p.m.