LAKE STEVENS — When the Lake Stevens High School stadium was torn down in late November, former football coach Ken Collins shed no tears.
Sure, the complex had some great memories of state championship-contending teams, but it was simply too small.
“Lake Stevens football has been a big deal for a long time,” said Collins, who is now the school’s principal. “We have grown so fast. We just outgrew our stadium in a hurry.”
Collins remembers a stretch when his wife and young children couldn’t find seats to watch and would have to head home. He believes there were games when limited seating kept the attendance and gate receipts down.
“We are ready to move on, honestly,” Collins said.
That’s exactly what is happening now.
Construction crews are scheduled to begin pouring concrete for the new stadium this week.
By next fall, the district expects to have the new 2,600-seat stadium ready for competition. The old stadium seated 1,200.
A hungry construction market spurred by a sluggish economy led 14 contractors to compete for the project. The result were low bids that allow the district to afford a long list of bid alternatives.
The $4.8 million contract went to Ferguson Construction Inc. of Seattle.
The additional work includes concrete plazas with stairways on both sides of the stadium, two locker rooms, a room for referees, a storage area, a scoreboard, a ticket booth, ornamental fencing and a training and laundry room.
The district’s estimate for the base bid without all the extra projects was up to $4.8 million; the actual base bid was $4.17 million, meaning the district was able to order about $600,000 in additional projects.
Money for the stadium comes from a $65.5 million bond measure Lake Stevens voters approved in 2005. It is the last project under the bond measure.
Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446, stevick@heraldnet.com.
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