A Woodstock soybean field will soon be home turf for several athletic teams from Marian Central Catholic High School.
Late last month, Marian Supt. Tom Landers received approval from Rev. Thomas G. Doran, bishop of the Diocese of Rockford, to buy the 24-acre parcel.
The Council of Administration, Marian’s local governing body, had approved the plan in early July.
Marian has agreed to buy the land, located on the southeast side of Illinois Highway 120, south of Raffle Road, for an undisclosed amount of money. The land is currently owned by Inland Corp., an investment brokerage firm.
Landers said the land will become the site of an athletic complex.
“It is the final project in a series of capital improvement projects that have included an addition to the building and increased parking facilities,” Landers said.
According to Landers, the funding was part of a 1993 campaign that raised more than $2 million. It allowed the school to build an addition that provided 10 additional classroom spaces, an auditorium, a new gymnasium and two new commons areas.
This summer, more than 150 additional parking spaces were added to accommodate the school’s increased enrollment.
A tuition surcharge of $350 per student was implemented this year and will remain in effect over the length of a 15-year mortgage on the parcel in order to pay the principal and interest on the mortgage.
“We have been cautious about proceeding with our projects, one at a time,” Landers said. “We wanted to be good stewards of the funds given us so that we could get what we needed. By being frugal, we have kept costs contained and gotten a lot for our money.”
Landers also credits the donations of materials, time and labor from school supporters in helping the projects avoid cost overruns.
Although plans remain tentative, they include the installation of three fields for baseball and softball; a six-lane, 400-meter all-weather track; football and soccer practice fields; and perhaps four tennis courts.
Four tennis courts next to the school parking lot will be removed when the new complex is completed.
“The football field, which has also been used for boys and girls soccer, is the only on-site competition facility the school has ever had,” said Marian’s athletic director, Bob Keyes. “We have never had an on-site practice area for baseball or softball. Our teams have even set up diamonds on the blacktop for practice.”
For interscholastic competitions, the school has had to use the City of Woodstock’s park facilities or travel to opponents’ schools.
“Thankfully, despite our lack of ideal practice conditions, our teams have been pretty successful,” Keyes said.
Following a mid-September closing on the property, Landers hopes to use existing operating funds to begin preliminary work on the land.
“We will be meeting with land development experts to finalize plans for the placement of the facilities,” he said.
“The land is already fairly level and it doesn’t appear to need a lot of grading,” said Keyes, who added that four acres of the property are wetlands that will be preserved.
“I think it may be possible to do some seeding and other prep work for electricity and water before the end of fall,” Keyes said.
If all proceeds smoothly, Keyes foresees some of the athletic facilities being ready for use by the 1998-99 school year.
“This is a major undertaking for the school,” Keyes said. “But I think we can provide our students, athletes, coaches, community and supporters with a top-flight facility that everyone can be proud of and happy to play on.”
