Mount Zion School District Undergoes Improvements

MOUNT ZION, Ill. — More than $19 million in construction projects will take place at Mount Zion School District facilities over the next month. Improvements at Mount Zion High School, for instance, include upgrades to the football field and additions to the auditorium and field house.

The football field will be the first project to reach completion this fall (in time for the first home football game), as the field will be transformed from grass to a sewn-in turf surface. Crews have already laid about 25 pounds of a rubber and sand mix to each square foot of the field, reported the Herald-Review.
When complete, the field will feature light green and dark green turf, alternated every 10 yards. The end zones will be painted red with Braves displayed across in white lettering, and the high school logo will be stamped across midfield.

Other updates to the stadium include the scoreboard, as well as new bleachers to the home section. The scoreboard in particular has been moved to the north end of the field and will house a video display screen for playbacks and advertisements.

Meanwhile, the field house will be outfitted with a 200-meter indoor track and four basketball courts. Once completed, physical education classes will be moved to the facility, which will create new opportunities for sports and extra curricular activities. The auditorium will contain main-level and balcony seating to accommodate up to 1,500 people. Its total capacity will be 2,000, including standing room. Construction began on the auditorium and field house additions in early August, and the facilities are scheduled to be operational in January 2016.

While the high school is receiving most of the improvement projects for the district, the Mount Zion Grade School is also undergoing some construction work. The grade school’s mobile classroom that had sat on school grounds for the past 20 years was demolished, and a permanent structure of three classrooms and two bathrooms is being added to the existing building. The addition is slated for completion in early October.