Football press box project misses completion date; Plan B in effect
by Peter Jakey–Managing Editor
Only in a small town would a high school football field press box receive so much publicity. Such is the case with the Gilpin Memorial Field press box project that should already have been completed and ready for the 2026 football season.
Not only is there concern that it won’t be built in time for the first kickoff, it may not be ready for the season. In the meantime, the district has been forced to go to a plan “B” and will be using the city of Rogers City’s portable band shell that has been placed on the home side of the south goalposts.
Members of the Rogers City Area Schools board of education approved the low bid of $72,700 with Northern Michigan Structures (NMS) of Frederic in January with a completion date of Aug. 1 listed in the contract. There was a second bid of $118,300 from Three Rivers Corporation, but the board voted 6-0 to go with the lower bidder.
Two weeks after school came to a close, to save $20,000 in demolition costs, the old press box, that was small, had a leaky roof and was considered an embarrassment to the district, was brought down and disposed of by school employees.
The new press box is going to be more spacious and have a storage area on ground level.
Superintendent Nick Hein realizes the cost of the project is a steep one, but there are steps a public school has to follow that make it impossible for the school to build its own press box with the hiring of an architect and approval from an engineer.
According to NMS owner, Alex Sylvester, who was reached Tuesday through the company’s phone number, the delay is with the state of Michigan permit inspector.
“We are patiently awaiting on the state, they told us about a week ago, they had 365 on their desk to inspect, and a bunch of them are schools, and they are backed up and understaffed,” said Sylvester.
Sylvester told The Advance that he submitted for the permit last winter.
“I did one online, but they said they could not find it, so I redid one about a month ago,” said Sylvester. He said it could take a couple of weeks to construct the press box, “but we have to have a green light from the state because they will take my license away.”
“The district completed its end of demolition of the press box and site prep that was required of the bid, and at this point the district has contacted its legal team, to ask the architect, who is the project manager and construction company, why there is a hold up,” said Hein. “We have not seen the progress.”
Hein added that maintenance supervisor Aaron Spens has been at the site waiting for someone to show up and he was left hanging. Hein updated the school board at its, Aug. 10 meeting.
