FR moving forward with new field

FORT RECOVERY –– Construction of a new baseball/softball facility is expected to begin soon.

Fort Recovery School Board members on Monday authorized superintendent Larry Brown and treasurer Deanna Knapke to enter into an agreement with Fort Recovery Athletic Boosters for the project.

Fort Recovery Diamond Club proposed the project in April 2017 after the club cited limited facilities, poor location and drainage problems with the current high school baseball field located at the west end of Caldwell Street. At an estimated $1 million, the new facility is being funded by local donations in addition to a loan.

Initial plans called for the field to be constructed to the south of the high school softball field on the east side of the Fort Recovery Elementary/Middle School property. It would also include a new press box, restrooms, concession building, bleachers with canopies and a batting cage for the softball team.

In a school board meeting last year, representatives from the club said they hoped to begin construction at the conclusion of the 2020 Fort Recovery High School softball season. (The 2020 spring sports season was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.) Superintendent Larry Brown estimated the project may be done as soon as spring 2022.

Also Monday, school board accepted the resignation Brent Niekamp as athletics director and transportation director, effective July 31, 2021. (See related story on page 10.)

High school principal Tony Stahl also recognized students for their recent achievements.

Ellie Hummel placed in the top 10 (out of 350-plus competitors) in the video production, digital marketing and the fundamentals of web design contest for the Business Professionals of America. Luke Keller, who is in the automotive program with the Tri Star Career Compact, received a silver medal at the Southwest Ohio Regional Skills Competition for automotive service technology. He’ll move on to compete at state.

Anna Wendel will be this year’s Fort Recovery representative for the Franklin B. Walter scholarship, Stahl announced.

Middle school principal Ryan Steinbrunner noted two students are far behind in the virtual academy and school staff are working to help those kids get caught up in their work. But five or six students, he continued, are expected to be finished with their online schoolwork by March.

“Those families have even reached out to us asking if there’s anything supplemental they can do and what they can continue to work on until the end of the year,” Steinbrunner said.

In other business, school board members Anne Guggenbiller, Jake Knapke, Greg LeFevre, Don Wendel and Nick Wehrkamp:

•Reassigned three employees to new positions for the 2021-22 school year: Tami Brunswick from intervention specialist to kindergarten teacher; Kim Minnich from first grade teacher to kindergarten teacher; and Chelsea Kahlig from high school intervention specialist to elementary intervention specialist.

•Accepted $2,912 in donations, including $2,800 from Fort Recovery Athletic Boosters for baseball and track.

•Approved an annual one-year contract with Healthy Lawns Inc. of Coldwater, Ohio, for maintaining football, baseball, softball and practice fields.