FORKS — The Quillayute Valley School District celebrated the grand opening of its new stadium with a recognition of the school board, dedications to long-time volunteers and a big thank you to the community for supporting the project.
“It’s been 16 years of a journey to get here,” Superintendent Diana Reaume said during the event on Friday evening.
Replacement of the old wooden Spartan Stadium, built in the 1960s, was postponed first by a failed bond measure in 2008 and then the hiatus brought on by the pandemic. Considered setbacks at the time, the delays turned out to have had benefits.
“We had two blessings,” Reaume said. “The voter bond allowed us to hold onto more DNR timber dollars and COVID allowed us to collect more timber dollars.”
Quillayute Valley School District Superintendent Diana Reaume, left, recognized the school board for its work guiding the design, construction and completion of the new Spartan Stadium. From left are Reaume, board members Shannon Dahlgren, Kevin Hinchen, Ron Hurn, Mike Reaves, Bill Rohde and former board member Val “V.J.” Giles. (Paula Hunt/Peninsula Daily News)
Renovation of the entire Spartan Stadium facility began in 2016, when the district replaced the grass field with artificial turf at a cost of $1.3 million.
The 1,136-seat aluminum structure designed by BLRB Architects of Tacoma was originally budgeted at $2.6 million, but change orders boosted that amount to a little over $3.2 million.
Unlike its predecessor, the new stadium is ADA compliant, and it has a press box and a ticket booth that will eventually accept mobile payments.
Reaume credited the school board with seeing the stadium project through from vision to completion.
“It was a high priority, and if it were not for their persistence in improving all of our buildings, this would not have happened,” Reaume said in introducing Shannon Dahlgren, Kevin Hinchen, Ron Hurn, Mike Reaves, Bill Rohde and former board member Val Giles to the crowd.
Rohde said later that Reaume was instrumental in making the stadium happen.
“Diana is a get-it-done sort of person,” said Rohde, who has been on the school board since 1994. “It’s a fabulous stadium and it’s all part of the [district’s] master plan.”
The celebration gave the district the opportunity to honor the late Pete Haubrick as well as Cindy Spade and Lonnie Archibald for their commitment to Forks sports.
The district dedicated the press box to announcer Haubrick, who died in 2021 and was known as “the voice of West End sports.”
It dedicated the ticket booth to Cindy Spade in recognition of her working the old booth for the past 44 years.
It also honored photographer Lonnie Archibald — longtime freelance photographer for the Peninsula Daily News and Forks Forum, as well as an author — for his more than 50 years of documenting Forks sports.
“It’s just awesome that especially a school this size, that the community can get behind something like this,” Archibald said.
Spartan Stadium committee members, the Forks Coaches Association, volunteer coaches and the timber industry received appreciation for their contributions. The Forks Chamber of Commerce conducted the ribbon cutting.
Forks Middle School teacher Victoria Streutker said the new stadium is a vast improvement over the old one.
“This is a thousand times better,” said Streutker, who was keeping warm on the aluminum bleachers with a Spartan blanket and a Spartan blue and yellow afghan her mother-in-law had crocheted.
“It feels safer because [at the old stadium] you were conscious of the rickety steps.”
Beyond the physical improvements, Streutker said, the new stadium and field offer emotional benefits as well.
“It’s community-centric, and people are going to feel better about their community and schools,” she said.
Phase II of the stadium project will involve constructing a restroom, replacing fencing around the perimeter of the property and completing asphalting.
The board will need to approve BLRB’s proposal before work on the 900-square-foot structure can start.
BLRB and the district are working to make changes that will reduce the firm’s original $1.4 million cost estimate before a revised proposal is presented to the board in April.
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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached at paula.hunt@soundpublishing.com.
