The district is seeking funding to construct outdoor sports facilities on the 28.325 acres of land at North Cassady Avenue purchased in December of 2024.
Director of Facilities and Operations Harley Williams said the district is in need of athletic field space and would like to build a baseball field, turf field and regulation-sized track at the Cassady Complex.
He added there may also be space for tennis courts and a field house used for storage and indoor training.
“The goal is to get as many field teams out there right after school so they can be home for dinner and so that nobody has to be practicing at 9:00 at night,” he said.
He said Phase Zero of the Cassady development plan adds temporary grass fields to be used for sports practices.
At the Board of Education meeting April 8, the Board unanimously approved an Easement and Lease agreement with Calgon Carbon regarding Cassady Avenue.
District treasurer Kyle Smith said the agreement will amend language in the existing contract.
“Easements take a long time to clean up,” he said. “They are an instrument of land acquisition, and they tie land up.”
As part of the lease agreement, Calgon Carbon will pay the district $200,000 over two years in exchange for use of land at Cassady Avenue for construction staging.
The money will be used for further development of the site, Smith said.
Williams said funding the development of the land will be a challenge. The district is considering different grants and partnerships to fund the project as well as a possible sponsorship from Capital University, he explained.
There are no plans to use money from a levy to support the Cassady development, he added.
The area will need to be prepared before construction can begin, he said, which will include removing trees and foliage, grading the land, installing underground drainpipes and planting sod.
Williams said these steps totaled around $2 million of an estimated $30 million for the entire project.
The district hopes to be finished with the planning process in 2027, he added.
Williams said the district anticipates the building process will last through the next decade. He added there will be focus groups for each section of the Cassady Avenue land.
The high school’s Ecosummit team is taking on a section of land near the river and hopes to create a community nature space.
Ecosummit team leader Anna Whisler said the first step in creating a community nature space was brainstorming what to include.
She explained the Ecosummit Team’s available land is on a floodplain near Alum Creek, which is protected by trees and optimal for nature-based installations.
“The group has come up with ideas of nature paths along the river, pollinator gardens, educational gardens for elementary students, outdoor game areas or space for environmental science classes,” Whisler said.
The team is hoping to organize volunteers to help clean up litter and remove invasive species but will also need professional help to clear the area for a path, she explained.
Whisler said the Cassady Avenue land currently has restricted access due to safety concerns, but Environmental Club members hope to take action within the next year.
“We are excited to present our blueprints at the Ecosummit convention at the end of April, which will have completed sketches of how we will use the land,” Whisler said.
Published and digitized April 2026.
