This has kind of been the heading for the last probably five plus years or so that this has been on our deferred maintenance radar. It has become much more significant in the last couple of years.”

Athletic Director Trent Hanson

The fieldhouse at Hastings High School is undergoing a much-needed upgrade to the facilities, new bleachers. Athletic Director Trent Hanson provided the details of replacing the original bleachers from when the school was built in 2001.
“For context, the bleachers that are being replaced were original with the building from over 20 years ago, almost 25 years ago,” said Hanson. “That's about the life cycle that you can expect. This has kind of been the heading for the last probably five plus years or so that this has been on our deferred maintenance radar. It has become much more significant in the last couple of years, primarily for two reasons. One is the large permanent section themselves was just starting to malfunction. I mean, we either couldn't get them all the way in or get them all the way out. There were a lot of issues with the fabrication underneath and then the way the portable bleachers moved they were old technology. It was an air caster system that kind of helped float them and essentially, what has happened is, over the course the last couple decades, technology in manufacturing has changed. We haven't been able to secure replacement pieces when something breaks or malfunctions, right? We had to have one of our internal maintenance people try to fabricate a fix or if a part was ordered, someone else would have to fabricate it. There's nothing like an in-stock shop, right? So, it could, as people have experienced in the last few years, if something was out of commission, it would impact our facility for maybe weeks at a time. So, it's just time for a brand-new approach.”
The conversation in the last five years around the deferred maintenance plan was mainly to keep the future need of replacement in the forefront of everyone’s mind until about a year ago when the replacement got the green light. The planning, design and ordering took the better part of a year and now the installation piece has been going for the majority of August.
“We've lost two courts, and it's pretty noisy, so it's kind of a distraction,” said Hanson. “Yet, the student-athletes understand sometimes this is kind of what it takes to get things done. But, visually, esthetically, when things look sharp, and the colors are bright, I think it just pops. It just helps the whole environment. I think when you look at the last eight to 10 years’ worth of changes that we've been able to make, sometimes necessary, sometime desired, whether it's the scoreboard or paint or things like that, when those things are aligned it helps the energy in the whole place.”
Head Volleyball Coach Elisabeth Curran and her players have been the most inconvenienced by the construction of the bleachers and the hope is the work will be done in time for their first home Volleyball match against Simley where they will open with Parents Night.
“We are excited for our first home game,” she said with the noise of construction behind her. “We play next Wednesday, and we are hoping to fill the beautiful new stands with fans.”
The new bleachers are very similar to the original ones, but fans may notice a little loss of leg room because, while the number of seats remains the same, the new style bleachers do not extend from the wall the same. Overall, it will be close to an eight-foot difference where the front row ends now compared to where it used to end. Sight lines should remain very similar on the home side and moving the away side bleachers around the gym for storage should be much easier for the custodial staff.
There have been additional upgrades worked on this summer with additional end line cameras for the HUDL system installed. These automated cameras allow coaches to see additional views when reviewing game footage. Coaches can then mark highlights with player names which then becomes available to the general public on fan.hudl.com.
They are also continuing to expand the various displays of honor on the walls of the field house. There is a Wall of Honor, All-Americans and so on of high-end performances of Hastings Athletes. This is year two of the three-year plan to have the historical performances of Raider Athletes on the wall.
The school board reviewed the plan to replace the bleachers at the January 2024 meeting at a cost of just under $750,000.
When will the bleachers be done?
“They hope to be done this week,” said Hanson. “Which is going to be a nice, welcome upgrade.”
From what is installed, the new bleachers are beautiful and rock solid, as Hason put it, a welcome upgrade and you will have a chance to see it if you go to Volleyball on Wednesday, August 28 at 6:30 p.m.