Athletic Facilities
As of 2010 Kermit Courville Stadium is the district's stadium. The stadium was 60 years old as of January 22, 2010, Before 2010 GISD was deciding whether to renovate Courville stadium. If the district decided to renovate Courville stadium, it would have had to purchase 75 structures, including a church, to build enough parking spaces. Galveston law requires one parking space per 200-square-foot (19 m2) of building space, and Courville, which had 140 parking spaces, did not have the sufficient number specified by law; if GISD renovated it, it would have been required to create the legally specified number of parking spaces. When people attend events at Courville, many park on streets around the stadium and in a grassy lot north of the stadium.
In January 2010 GISD announced that it was replacing the Kermit Courville Stadium with a new stadium on 83rd Street on a plot of land near the district's baseball and softball fields. The district decided to develop the site since the district owns enough land on that site to develop one stadium and legally sufficient parking without having to buy additional land. As of that month the district estimated that a new stadium would cost between $30 million and $34 million. The district may try to get naming rights to the stadium to help finance it. Preliminary plans call for a multipurpose stadium with a capacity to seat 6,000 to 10,000 spectators, 722 parking spaces, and an eight lane track. The new stadium would have features that would allow it to host events for band, drill team, soccer (football), and track and field events. In addition the stadium will host dance competitions and graduation ceremonies.
Elizabeth Beeton, a council member of the City of Galveston, objected to the GISD decision. Beeton said that the Courville Stadium is accessible to central Galveston, while the 83rd Street building would not be accessible from the city center. Beeton also said that the Courville stadium added character to the area and that continuing to use Courville would allow the district to persuade the "cynical electorate" to approve of the 2010 March bond election measure.
Read more about this topic: Galveston Independent School District
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