Donor-funded scoreboard, weight room and gym upgrades planned at Bettendorf High

District staff presented a package of athletic-facility upgrades at Bettendorf High School that will be funded partly with local PPEL (Physical Plant and Equipment Levy) dollars set aside in a deferred-maintenance plan and partly by a private donor, identified in the meeting as Sue Quayle.

Zach, the activities director, and Scott Martin, the district’s new director of operations, described a multi-part project that includes a new video scoreboard, replacement of the lobby gym floor, an expanded weight room and renovations to the press box. Officials said a portion of the work is possible only because of Quayle’s contribution.

Scoreboard and sponsorship revenue

The proposed stadium scoreboard would be a full video board with a truss and signage. Dimensions described by staff were approximately 17 feet high by 32 feet wide and about 12 feet deep. Vendors the district has considered include ScoreVision and Daktronics. District staff said vendors suggest corporate-sponsorship packages to help finance the board; guidance cited ranges of about $5,000 to $20,000 per sponsor over five to ten years.

Weight room and gym work

Plans for the weight room include doubling rack capacity with nine double-sided half racks (18 stations total), built-in platforms, updated flooring and additional functional-training equipment (hex bars, trap bars, sleds and medicine-ball storage). An indoor turf area was described at about 15 feet by 40 feet for speed and agility work. Staff said the current weight-room floor is about 8 millimeters thick and the new floor will be about 10.5 millimeters; they cited a vendor-stated longevity for the new lobby/gym flooring of roughly 30 years.

Schedule and risks

Staff identified near-term schedule items: demolition for the lobby gym floor is set to begin May 26. For the weight room, staff hoped to perform demolition during the district’s “dead week” in July, with completion timelines dependent on equipment shipments; the worst-case estimate mentioned was delivery of strength equipment by Sept. 2, which could interfere with fall-season athletic use, and officials said they might consider scheduling some work for winter break instead if vendors cannot meet earlier delivery dates.

Press box

Planned press-box work includes siding, windows, carpet, countertops and new furniture; staff said removing old siding and carpet could reveal additional repair needs.

Community, donor and operations context

Officials credited Sue Quayle for enabling multiple projects that would not proceed otherwise. Scott Martin, newly hired as director of operations, and activities staff said they have been coordinating with vendors and architects since winter and will provide detailed timelines as contracts are finalized. The activities director said the video scoreboard will require one additional operator role (a video operator) beyond current game-day staff and noted the district will receive training subscription(s) from the scoreboard vendor to operate the system.

Ending

Board members thanked the donor and staff for the work; staff will return with final contract terms, a financing plan for sponsorship revenue if pursued, and scheduling updates for the board to approve as necessary.