The Estes Park Bobcats will play their opening season game against Granby’s Middle Park Panthers on their home field Friday night, but fans won’t be able to sit on the bleachers in the new stadium. Not yet.
The new stadium is still being built at Estes Park High School as delays in necessary state permitting earlier this spring and summer held up construction.
Temporary seating will be provided on the east side of the field and Superintendent Ruby Bode said that fans are invited to bring along portable lawn chairs to ensure that everyone has a seat.
The new aluminum and steel stadium will replace the old one which was no longer safe. A combination of winter weather conditions including freezing and thawing degraded the concrete structure over time.
“The old stadium had been built approximately 60 years ago. The concrete had begun to deteriorate. The whole stadium was constructed on prefabricated concrete slabs that had been laid onto walls. Over time some of that cracked, and water was able to get down into the rebar. That started to rust. When that happens, it essentially explodes from the inside out,” said Eric Adams, director of operations for the school district.
Due to significant stress fractures in the concrete, the stadium was deemed unsafe during the last academic year and part of the seating was roped off.
Demolition of the old stadium began in mid-July. Jon Smith, the owner of High Plains Excavation and Aggregate, donated his services to tear down the old stadium and haul off the debris. His donation helped the school to save $118,283.
“I grew up in Eaton, and when we needed stuff at the school the farmers that could wrote checks to make sure that kids had what they needed. I knew the school needed some help, and I can’t write a check to anybody, but I have some equipment. I can donate some time. So, I decided to lead by example, and donate my time to help tear the stadium down,” Smith said.
“It was truly an amazing show of community support and incredible generosity from him and his company,” Adams said.
The demolition work, which took Smith three weeks, consisted of three phases. Smith first built a road to get his equipment close to the stadium. He then demolished the concrete seating with an excavator, then crushed and hauled away tons of detritus and other debris.
The new stadium, which will sit on a new concrete base, will be built with aluminum bleachers much like an Erector Set.
Smith’s other business, Cornerstone Concrete, was awarded the contract to build the new base. His company is also digging trenches for utilities.
The seating capacity of the new bleachers will be 500, about 100 less than the old stadium, and the bleachers will be open on the sides.
“The bottom part of the bleachers wall will be open, on the sides and back. It’ll be covered by a chain link fence. In the future, we hope to enclose that as well with some sort of mesh covering,” Adams said.
“One of the nice features of the old stadium was that it was a very broad tread. People could walk down the row in front of you, and not bump into seats. So, we kept that piece of it,” Adams said.
The new stadium will also feature enclosed seating, to protect fans from Estes Park’s cold winds. This enclosed seating will ensure that miscellaneous things don’t fall under the stadium structure.
In addition to the new bleacher seating, a concession stand will be built on the east side of the restrooms.
“It’ll be an approximately 40 foot by 10 foot concession stand. It will have a family restroom and janitorial closet. It’ll have a stainless steel three-compartment sink, warming ovens and stainless-steel countertops,” Adams said.
In the old stadium, fans had to go around the backside of the bleachers, to buy concessions. As a result they would miss part of the game. People working in the concession stand were unable to watch the game.
The new concession stand will face the field, allowing both fans and the people running concessions to see the game.
“The new concession stand will be a standalone building, added on to the field side of the existing restrooms. It’ll be concrete block construction,” Adams said.
Adams said the new stadium will serve both the school district and community because of the importance of athletics to the health of the district. He also sees the benefit of being able to host community vents there, such as the Estes Park Marathon.
Bode shares a similar sentiment. “When you have facilities and an environment—your buildings, your stadium, your grounds—that are dilapidating and they’re wearing down, that impacts the pride that people take in their school. That also impacts the culture of the school, and the sense of belonging and pride that students have when they come here. Your environment and surroundings shape pride and what you care about,” Bode said.