Fieldhouse in the Works

When plans for the renovation of the Maggie L. Walker School building were originally designed, a fieldhouse was part of those plans, but was scrapped due to financial restrictions.

This year, however, the topic has been reopened in the form of the MLWGS Concession/Fieldhouse Feasibility Study Committee.


“When they originally renovated the school there were plans to put in a fieldhouse, but there was not enough money,” said Ms. Becky Henderson, President of the Athletic Boosters. “It has been something that has been in the works for a while.”

Ms. Belle Bronner, PTSA President, went to the Regional Board this year and requested that the topic be looked into. The Regional Board then commissioned the Feasibility Study.

“At the beginning of each year we earmark money for a project,” said Ms. Bronner. “All the money that we have from our budget and the auction will be going to this [the construction of the fieldhouse].”

That amount of money will be substantial, as the PTSA operating budget is approximately $60,000 annually. Ms. Bronner estimated that they will be able to put as much as $20,000 aside for the project this year.

Added on to the PTSA’s contributions will be the donations from the Athletic Boosters and the Foundation.

“The PTSA, Athletic Boosters and the Governor’s School Foundation, they are separate; they do their own fundraising,” said Mr. Phil Tharp, Coordinator of Administration and member of the Feasibility Committee. “It’s nothing that would be coming from the state or from tuition.”

The Feasibility Committee is now in the process of examining and editing the design from the original renovation.

“We still do not have a final blueprint,” said Ms. Bronner. “But we have a good idea.”

The committee is made up of parents and members of the administration as well as Governor’s School foundation representatives.

The committee is chaired by Ms. Sandy Whitehead, an architect who works for Baskervill Architecture. Another member of the committee, Mr. Robert Comet, is the president of BCWH Inc. and worked on the renovation of the MLWGS building.

Part of the committee’s job is figuring out how much the fieldhouse would cost. Estimates have risen to as high as $200,000.

“That [the estimate] is based on the square footage and current construction costs,” said Mr. Tharp.

The committee has been making progress, and Mr. Tharp plans to submit the Request for Proposals to the Richmond City Public Schools as early as next week.

The committee also hopes to present its findings to the Regional School Board at the April board meeting.

The current plan for the fieldhouse is approximately 1465 sq. ft and would be located just inside the fence that encloses the athletic fields.

The plan includes a kitchen and concession stand, training room, equipment room, handicapped-accessible bathrooms and a place for ticket sales.

While the concession stand will have a kitchen, almost no cooking will take place there.

“It’s not going to be a working kitchen,” said Ms. Bronner. “We’re going to have sinks, an icemaker and microwaves… if they cook hotdogs they will either do it inside or outside on the grill.”

There will be no specific group who runs the concession stand, but it will possibly be open to clubs and boosters to man for fundraising.

Having a training room outside is something that could be useful to the MLWGS sports teams that use the athletic fields.

“We have had some pretty serious stuff happen out there,” said Ms. Paige Hawkins, Athletic/Activities Director. “Safety wise, it will be a big improvement.”

While the idea of a fieldhouse is still only a possibility, many students are excited by the prospects that the idea holds.

“The fieldhouse would be an interesting addition,” said Johnny Tomlin (‘11). “I’ll just have to wait and see.”