A new stadium is being built at Estes Park High

When the Estes Park Bobcats play their first home game next month, fans will root the team on to victory from a new stadium.

The location will remain the same, but the current stadium will be demolished and replaced at a cost of $1.4 million.

The Bobcats are set to play Granby’s Middle Park High School Panthers Aug. 30. The kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

According to Superintendent Ruby Bode, the old stadium is no longer safe due to fissures in the concrete which have been caused by the wear and tear of weather. A section of the stadium was cordoned off this past year out of an abundance of caution when the cracks started to pull the stadium apart.

Demolition work began this week and should take about three weeks, said Jon Smith of High Plains Excavation and Aggregate. Smith is donating his company’s services to demolish the old stadium and to take away the detritus. The work is valued at $118,283.

Asked about his generous in-kind contribution to the stadium project, Smith said “I live here and am part of the community.” Smith has two students who attend Estes Park High School — Logan Smith who will be a senior this fall, and Jade Ertl, who will be a junior. His company employs about two dozen workers, and his firm will also do some of the concrete and utility work on the new stadium.

“It is pretty phenomenal for a local businessperson to come forward with a donation of this size,” said Eric Adams, director of operations for the Estes Park School District.

Freezing and thawing over the past six decades degraded the old stadium, built in 1965 of “pre-stressed” concrete at a cost of $10,620 by the Broadway Construction Company of Bulder, to the point that it had “exploded from the inside out,” said Adams. The cost of the old stadium did not include the bleachers or the installation hardware. Members of the Estes Park Jaycees installed the seating.

The new stadium will be constructed of aluminum and steel, said Derek Young a senior associate and LEED AP architect with RB+B Architects in Fort Collins, the engineering and architecture firm selected to design the stadium and concession areas.

The design features an enclosed system to protect fans from the wind and to prevent miscellaneous things, such as keys or cell phones, from falling under the stadium structure, said Young.

The new stadium will be built on top of the current stadium footprint. The stadium will include a press box and have seating for 500, said Young. The old stadium had a seating capacity of 600.

Locker rooms are not part of the design as those are currently located inside the high school and middle school buildings. The new concession stand, expected to be built after the stadium is completed, will be located on the east side of the restrooms will include a plaza to provide for a “better relationship with the game,” said Young.

According to Young, the project has been delayed due to obtaining a building permit from the state, a process which took 3.5 months. “For public school projects you have to go through the state for a building permit. It came through last week sometime,” said Young.

“Right now, the priory is to get the seats in. The second priority is to get the press box in,” said Young.

By code, the new stadium will be ADA compliant and will also include a family restroom, said Young.

Saunders Construction, which is headquartered in Englewood is the building contractor.