By: 1812Blockhouse
The Mansfield City Schools Board of Education had a single report during its meeting on Tuesday evening, and the topic was sports.
Athletic Director Kevin Porter was on hand to update Board members on the project to replace the scoreboard at Pete Henry Gymnasium at Mansfield Senior High School.
As the AD shared, a new scoreboard would not only improve the experience of watching basketball and volleyball games, but it would aksi serve as a potential revenue producer for the district — just as one did in the high school he worked at before coming to Mansfield.
The current board, Porter began, was “state of the art” when it was purchased, but it is now 15 years old. Whereas the current scoreboard is a “generation two” model, the proposed new board is a “generation six” — and the fact that four models have gone by in design and function means that parts are simply not available for repairing the current board.
The new scoreboard would have a large TV monitor, and could more easily host graduations, assemblies, etc., the AD told Board members. The screen could be hooked up with other monitors in the building or even in classrooms in other district buildings.
A “curriculum piece” with the purchase would mean that students could learn to operate the board, graphics, and advertising, training that could give them marketable skills at colleges and universities since most use the same company..
The current scoreboard is already having issues. and went down for twenty minutes recently, Porter said. This came to the attention of OHSAA officials who select locations for regional tournaments; Mansfield’s location and facility advantages are weighed down by the scoreboard inadequacies, he emphasized. Interim Treasurer Jill Smith agreed, noting that playoffs already bring in revenue to the district.
Total cost for the new scoreboard would be $132,457, with an additional $10,297 if financed. Smith indicated that available monies are there and that revenues would not be depleted with the purchase.
Porter shared his desire to being to fundraise and attract sponsorship for the project, possibly tying it in with the proposed Arlin Field project. With this proposed vendor, he said that all advertisement income over and above the cost of the scoreboard would be kept entirely by Mansfield Schools.
Porter will be creating a sponsorship plan for review by the Board at its next meeting.
Photo: Creative Commons License
