Dayton Daily News education reporter Scott Elliott writes about schools, kids, teaching and learning.
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Saturday, May 13, 2006
The vision for Welcome Stadium
Dayton school officials hope renovation at Welcome Stadium will raise the venue’s profile and help build momentum for more development of the area of I-75 and Edwin C. Moses Boulevard.
If things work out as planned, Welcome could host concerts and other non-sporting events. There’s even a dream that someday the Cincinnati Bengals could hold their pre-season camp in Dayton.
With a $1 million state grant, the district will undertake two years of mostly cosmetic improvements, including the installation of a brick facade entry way facing Edwin C. Moses Boulevard. (See artist renderings here.)
The street side of the building will include flags representing the district’s high schools, a large ad space for a sponsor’s billboard and some sort of homage to great athletes from the district’s past. The hope is to usher in a new era for Welcome, which now mainly hosts high school football and track and University of Dayton football games.
The state cash for renovation was helped along by House Speaker Jon Husted, a former University of Dayton football player. At a meeting to detail the renovations Thursday, John Fabelo of the design firm Lorenz Williams said another $1 million could possibly come from the state later this year.
Board President Gail Littlejohn said the district also hopes to raise cash through sponsorship, although they will not sell naming rights for the stadium itself. Rather, there will be opportunities for companies to by rights to name the field, press box or other features.
“I can assure you the advertising will be tasteful,” she said. “It will not look like a minor league baseball park.”
Promoting the stadium was a key feature of a new partnership with UD, through which the university will share in managing Welcome and advise on promoting the stadium with its professional marketing staff. That deal allows both UD and the district to continue to keep gate receipts from their own events but both will reinvest revenue from parking, concessions and other events in a fund for ongoing maintenance.
The two also are in negotiations on a new contact for other fees, including rental of the stadium for UD games and of UD Arena for major high school games. Littlejohn said those fees are unbalanced, with the district paying more than twice as much to use the arena, but that talks are on track for more equitable terms.
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