Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Show-Off Time
GRAND OPENING SET FOR SPORTS COMPLEX
FARMINGTON — With high school football season kicking off in about a month, Farmington is ready to show off its new $16 million Sports Complex and Cardinal Stadium.
The district will host a grand opening ceremony, 5:30 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 15. Admission will be $5 and the public is invited to come see the complex, tour some of the facilities and watch red and white games.
Brad Blew, athletic director, said the grand opening is not the football kickoff which has been held every year to introduce all the children and students involved in the fall football season, whether they are players, cheerleaders, dancers or band students. “This year is going to be unique in a lot of ways, a lot of firsts, a lot of new beginnings,” Blew said. “We have a state-of-the-art facility and once football season starts, there’s really not a time for the public to see what we’ve got, on the inside, and I want some of our coaches to be involved with the community and let the community see what we’ve done.”
The grand opening will include red and white games with junior high and high school football teams.
It’s also a chance, Blew said, for the students who will be using the complex to see it.
“We want our cheerleaders and dance kids and band kids to get inside this facility for their first time and see what it’s going to be like on game night,” he said.
A big part of the evening will be the opportunity for the school district to recognize and thank donors who have given to the project, whether donations were cash or in-kind donations. Blew said he was able to raise about $600,000 to help with the expenses of the complex.
A donor wall will be located near the main gate and everyone who contributed to the project will be on the wall, Blew said.
The donor wall will pay tribute to Allen Holland for his many contributions to Farmington football. Holland coached the Cardinals from 1969-1991 and during that time, Farmington went 189-37, winning back-toback state championships in 1972 and 1973.
This panel also will highlight other parts of Farmington football history, along with
listing accomplishments of all other sports in the school.
“We have a very rich history with our district athletics and it needs to be shown,” Blew said.
The school is gearing up for its first home varsity football game, Farmington vs. Prairie Grove on Friday, Sept. 6, but Blew said he’s grateful four events will happen at the new stadium before the “big night” that will help school officials identify any issues or problems that need to be worked out.
The four events are the grand opening, PeeWee Jamboree, a senior high scrimmage against Van Buren and a junior high football game.
Once varsity football starts, the stadium will have several different rules in place, as compared to Friday nights at Allen Holland Field, Blew said.
For Friday night games, the school will have reserved parking passes for about 175 spaces and 180 passes for reserved chair-back seats and passes for a section of reserved bench-back seats.
The school will continue to have a general admission season pass, all-sports pass, individual game ticket and an all-sports pass for students.
The stadium will be a gun-free zone and will not allow animals, except service animals. Spectators will not be allowed on the turf field. Sports chairs will not be allowed at the stadium but fans can bring bleacher seats. Other items, such as skateboards, will not be allowed in the complex.
Right now Blew said he’s focused on making sure everything will be ready for Friday night football. He’s still working on specific details for some items.
“But until we get crowds in here, we really don’t understand how it’s all going to work yet,” he said. “As excited as I am about this facility, and a lot of people that I visit with out in the public, I know that they are excited, but they are going to have to understand there’s going to be a lot of change. On Friday nights, the way that it’s going to be administrated, the parking and the passes and everything else, it will be more like a collegetype facility. It’s going to be quite the production.”
He pointed out that school officials will learn a lot the first year because there are some unknowns and asked people to be patient.
Even with a long to-do list, Blew said he has enjoyed the journey and is looking forward to the “adventure.”
“When you build athletic facilities, you have one shot for 50 years,” he said. “I’ve loved every minute of it. We’ve taken this seriously and feel honored to have the responsibility for this. When you can move the needle for the next 40 or 50 years like this, it’s a cool thing.”
He added, “I’m just so excited about this for our kids, our coaches and the people of this town.”