By Sandy Rose Schwieterman
For the Sidney Daily News

MINSTER — Demolition time is here for the old Minster School district football bleachers and press box. Since the Minster Local School District’s Board of Education approved the $1.8 million project, Baumer Construction is now ready to start on the project, said Minster superintendent Josh Meyer. The project will result in completely new bleachers and press box at Minster’s Memorial Field.

The superintendent said when the project is completed by the end of the summer, the 40-to 50-year-old structure, with plastic-covered wood seating will be replaced with handicapped accessible, ADA compliant aluminum seating with wider aisles, exits and space between the rows. “We will be building from the bare ground up, complete with a new foundation,” he said.

Ironically, the total age of the old bleachers are unknown, since they originally were at The University of Dayton and then relocated to Minster’s Memorial Field in the 70’s. “We certainly got our money’s worth out of the structure,” joked the superintendent.

He emphasized that the area of the bleachers is the same footprint as the old structure. “It was very important to us to keep the visual impact when coming into town,” he said.

He also pointed out no new money was needed to build the new structure. “We are using excess money left over from building the elementary school a couple of years ago, so no new levy needed to be approved to build the new project.”

The athletic boosters are also involved in improvements at the field, including upgrading the entranceway to the field, the front fencing and the ticket booth, he added.

Garmann Miller was the designer of the new complex, and the bleacher and press box materials are from Southern Bleacher Company.

The writer is a regular contributor to the Sidney Daily News.