“When you are a Chief,” Zach Summers, Keokuk Community School District athletic director said at the ribbon cutting and the student section answered, “you are a champion!”
KCSD hosted the ribbon cutting of the completed turf Jim Vandenberg Field and Jim Kersten Track renovation project at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 12, at Calvert Stadium. The field and track were named in 2021 in honor of the longtime coaches and teachers at KHS.
Clint Wray, Keokuk Board of Education president, talked about Kersten and Vandenberg and how they supported the athletes in the district. He said that any athlete was lucky to have interactions with both former coaches. “I feel like they are here with us today,” Wray said during his remarks.
Student athletes from the middle and high schools that will utilize the field and track were introduced, and the KHS Band, cheerleaders and Little Feathers performed. Also, current and former coaches, the Keokuk Board of Education, the superintendent, athletic director and staff spoke and attended.
The improvements included the replacement of the existing track, which remains a six-lane track with an eight-lane 100 meter section and replaced track and field event stations, along with a turf field that replaced the existing grass field for football and soccer, and included an improved drainage system. An additional benefit of replacing the field with turf is the ability to allow the entire community to utilize the field for events.
Summers added that our district is “lucky to have a board that recognizes the importance of our facilities.” He went on to say that the district would continue to be the envy of area school districts in terms of facilities and that “we strive for excellence in everything we do.”
The first home football field is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 13, and the district is excited to see the Chiefs take the field finally this season. Wray added, “let’s get a win tomorrow.”
The track and field improvements were a part of the first phase of a planned two phase renovation of Calvert Stadium. Phase two, Dr. Kathy Dinger, KCSD superintendent, said, would include a renovation of the stadium, including the press box, concession area, bathrooms, viewing are and more. There will be further discussions on when phase two of the project will begin in Fall of 2024, however Dinger announced at the ribbon cutting that there are plans to start phase two in Spring 2026.
The need for renovations were identified by the school community as a priority from a survey conducted in the spring of 2023. Klingner and Associates PC completed the first phase of the project. Bidding on phase one of the project occurred in January 2024 and this phase of the project concluded on time in September 2024. The proposed artificial turf football field and track replacement were discussed at an Athletic Facility Public Hearing and Financing Public Hearing that were held in September 2023. The project did not exceed $4,000,000 in cost and the funds were in the State Secure an Advanced Vision for Education (SAVE) Fund and distributed to the School District pursuant to Section 423F.2 of the Iowa Code. The use of SAVE Funds did not increase the District’s tax rate.
