Stadium Upgrades
Published 7:30 am Tuesday, June 11, 2019
- S. John Collins / Baker City HeraldBulldog Memorial Stadium is undergoing work that includes handicap access to a bottom row of seats. A retaining wall will replace the small, grass slope that was directly in front of the bottom railing. Contractor Robert Collins says he also will install a new and safer handrail. All work will be completed well before the Shrine Football Game on Aug. 3.
East-West Shrine All-Star Football fans and those attending Baker High School home football games will notice some new features at Bulldog Memorial Stadium.
And hear some as well.
The railing along the front of the west (covered) side of the stadium will be replaced, and the grassy embankment behind the Baker bench area removed.
“The rail needed to be repaired, and we’ll have a crew pouring cement along the site,” said Mark Witty, Baker 5J superintendent.
“Crews are removing the bank and widening the front row in the bleacher area so that it will be wide enough to get a wheelchair through the space if needed,” Witty said.
Workers will also install a new sound system at the stadium at Ninth and E streets, just west of the high school. Ash Grove Cement Co. ($15,000) and the Baker Quarterback Club ($5,000) have donated half the money for the sound system. Baker 5J will pay the remaining $20,000.
“We hope to have the work done by Shrine game time (Aug. 3),” Witty said.
In another project being undertaken, the courts at the Ash Grove Tennis Complex east of the high school near the Baker Sports Complex will be resurfaced.
Witty said the work will be done the second week of July.
Funding will come from the Tennis Association of Baker and private funding ($28,224) and the school district ($16,000).
Witty said the resurfacing will involve two different processes. The renovated surfaces should last approximately 10 years, he said.
