One of the construction workers cuts the PVC pipe to hand to his colleague. He also measures the pipe to get the perfect size.
Seward County Community College starts on phase two of the Sharp Family Championship Center.
October 7, 2021
Seward County Community College continues with its project of expanding the Sharp Family Championship Center. The first phase started on April 25, 2019, by building an indoor softball and baseball field and batting cages for the players to continue practicing during winter or days when practicing outside is no option. Now, since the building has already been in use for a while, Seward County continues with plans for an upcoming building that is a part of phase two out of the six according to the original plans.
At the moment, construction workers are working on the foundation. The building itself will be made at a different place and be transported to the right location when finished, where it will be connected to the foundation.
About a week ago construction workers started to dig the dirt as a beginning of the second part of the Sharp Family Championship Center. This phase will take six or seven months before it is finished and ready for use.
“It should be done by halfway through the spring season if all the equipment is available,” said Kenny Hernandez, assistant athletic director.
The building will be located between the indoor baseball and softball field and Cottonwood Lane. The building should be big enough for softball and baseball locker rooms and will also include a weight room, restrooms, athletic trainer room and several offices. The restrooms and weight rooms will be available for everyone to use.
However, of the three outdoor sports Seward county has, the facilities are only being made for baseball and softball while men’s and women’s tennis will be left out. Seward County Saints and Lady Saints finished their tennis season as 3rd (men) and 5th (women) in the nation, making it the most successful outdoor sport Seward has at the moment.
“The money for this project is coming from sponsors of the community, tennis doesn’t have enough popularity in the community to receive enough money right now. However, it is true that tennis is the most successful outdoor sport currently,” said Hernandez.
Tennis head coach Mitch Vechione said, “My tennis team can reach much more popularity – however, we do not have the facilities for it. It is hard for us to host home games and gain popularity since we only have three courts on campus or need to reach out to Blue Bonnet Park where there is not always the availability.”
Tennis does have a place in the entire project but will be in phase four. To make a start on phase four it should take another two or three years. The foundation hopes about $5 million from community sponsors for the project.
If you want to find out more about the entire project of the Sharp Family Championship Center, watch the documentary on the website.
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