Published: November 19, 2008 09:30 am            

Board debates preserving pavers from old stadium

To pave or not to pave is not the question.

There will be paving at the new Owl Stadium, hundreds and hundreds of cement yards of it.

The question is whether there will be paving bricks.

Some 20 years ago landscaping and cement work at old Owl Stadium was financed through “paver bricks” and “square bricks,” which were purchased by individuals and businesses, inscribed, and placed in the ground between the football field house and stadium.

To transplant those old bricks to the new stadium grounds would be difficult, if not impossible. Some would surely chip during the excavation and transplant.

So, does Joshua ISD leave the bricks where they are, as memorials to days gone by and such coaches as Bob Brown and Bruce Taylor? Or, does the school district finance the transplant with sales of new paver bricks?

The subject was tackled, to an extent, by trustees in a workshop session at Monday’s regularly scheduled board meeting. Board president Randy Watson and vice president Ronnie Galbreath also kicked it around after the meeting.

“I believe the small bricks were sold for $25 and the big bricks $100,” Galbreath said. “The bigger ones were mainly sold to businesses and placed under the stadium. The individual bricks went from the north side of the bleachers to the field house.

“We’re in the process of deciding whether to dig them up and put them at the new stadium. We want to do something to recognize the people whose names are on the bricks. Part of the problem is cutting the bricks out of the cement without breaking them. Some of them are already disintegrating.

“Most of the ones that are disintegrating, you can’t read the names.”

If money from sales of new bricks doesn’t finance the transplant, it could go to various causes.

“You never know how many you’d sell,” Watson said. “The money could go to the booster club or for scholarships.”

Part of the intent of the original paver bricks was to involve the community in the beautification of Owl Stadium.

“I think it was meaningful,” Watson said. “I think it was meaningful for people to be able to see their names on the bricks.”

“It served its purpose,” Galbreath said. “It did a lot to upgrade the stadium at that time. That was basically the only way that could be funded. Even the trees over there were paid for by [paver bricks].”

If the old paver bricks can’t be transplanted, a wall could be constructed at the new stadium to honor the original benefactors.

“In a lot of new facilities, there are plaques on a wall,” Watson said. “You could come up with a plaque for a couple of hundred names. I think it would be more practical to have a wall or a plaque to honor the people who did all those things.”

In other action, the board:

zx Heard that Joshua High School has received the 2008 College readiness Award from the Texas ACT Council for increasing the number of students taking the ACT Assessment over the last five years and significantly increasing their level of achievement and college readiness.

zx Honored the FFA public relations team of Tyler Buzbee, Kimberly Pritchett, Jason Berndt and Ashlee Tidwell, who placed second in district.

zx Announced current enrollment numbers of 4,638 and attendance figures above 96 percent.

zx Announced fund balance figures of $17,735,728.

zx Awarded a bid for the stadium press box elevator to Otis Elevators for $148,300.

zx Announced that all construction projects, including the stadium and new middle school, are on schedule.

        

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