The metal visitors bleachers at Ridgefield High School’s Tiger Hollow football facility are dangerously out of compliance with safety codes and must be replaced this summer, according to sports officials.
John Pavain, president of Tiger Hollow Inc., and Carl Charles, the school athletic director, told the Board of Education during a meeting Monday, May 11, at the Town Hall Annex that there are no fencing barriers to prevent people from falling off the back or sides, no barriers to prevent people from falling under the seating or risers, and no hand railings up the aisleways. There is also no access ramp for people in wheelchairs.
The dangerous conditions at the complex are not confined to the visitors bleachers. The stairs also are damaged. A Newtown man injured his foot coming down the stairs to the soccer field last October and filed a lawsuit against the town.
The stairs will also be replaced, but the athletic leaders did not need Board of Education money for that project. They had their own funds.
For the bleacher replacement, they found an immediate consensus of support among the board members and school officials, who will return to the topic in two weeks for a vote.
“I don’t want the visitors to get too comfortable, but I want them to be at least safe,” said Superintendent of Schools Deborah Low.
The bleacher replacement should cost anywhere from $84,000 for 660 seats to $99,000 for 820 seats, Pavain and Charles told the board. They want the school board to find the money for the project.
Pavain and Charles said they will use other money to perform two $25,000 stair replacement jobs, which are also needed.
“This is justifiable,” said Chris Murray, a member of the school board, in support of spending money for the bleachers.
The money could come from the $389,413 that the district is under budget, forecast for the end of the school year, according to Low.
The board is expected to discuss how to pay for the bleachers at its next meeting.
If approved, the metal bleachers will be removed and sold to a scrap metal yard after the July 4 holiday fireworks. Concrete bleachers would take their place and would take about a week to build.
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