Stadium target now Sept. 15

A month and counting.

The Rockdale ISD says the tentative completion date for the new football field is now Sept. 15.

Builders and the district had previously set a target completion date of the end of August but that was pretty ambitious.

Supt. Denise Monzingo said, even through the drought-ridden summer of 2018, some work days earlier were slowed by rainy weather and wet conditions.

“Also, the base is on the track but the surface is yet to come,” she said. “When that is applied it needs to cure for 22 days before it can be used.”

“And that’s something which can’t be altered,” she said. “It just makes better sense to move the completion date.”

The facility will continue to be called Tiger Field.

MOVED—The RHS varsity football schedule is perfect for accommodating the change.

Both of Rockdale’s scrimmages are on the road as are the first two games, at Giddings and at Caldwell.

By moving one game from home to a neutral site—the third weekend in September contest with Lexington which was originally a home game—it frees up the first seven weekends of the 2018 season to not use the new field.

And that’s what the RISD is doing. That contest, originally set for Friday, Sept. 14 with the Eagles has been moved to Taylor and re-scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 13.

After that it’s still two more weeks until the Tigers make their home debut.

The Sept. 21 game is at Hyde Park and Sept. 28 is Rockdale’s open date.

So the first actual home game will be Oct. 5 against Manor New Tech.

STATE CHAMPS— Monzingo said sub-varsity schedules are being revised so the varsity team can have the honor of opening the stadium.

“It’s just fair that the varsity team, which is the defending state Class 3A, Division I football champions, be the first to play on the field,” she said.

OPEN HOUSE—The athletic department continues to work on a massive task, shifting the reserved seat, season ticket holders from the old configuration to the new.

Monzingo said information for season ticket holders will be announced soon.

She said an open house at the new Tiger Field is tentatively planned for Sept. 28, the open date and one week before the 2018 Tigers, and the new Tiger Field, make their debut.

“We want people to come and see it and it’s also going to be a good time for the season ticket holders to get a look at where they are going to be sitting,” she said.

Monzingo praised the work of Built Wright Construction, Huckabee (architects) and local contractor Bland Construction.

“They have been fantastic to work with and keep us advised on everything,” she said. “We meet once a week and communication throughout this project has been excellent.”

The new Tiger Field technically isn’t new at all. It’s classified as maintenance of an existing facility since it’s being built on the same footprint.

That enables the district to issue maintenance tax notes, not requiring a bond issue and fund the facility with fund balance, to be paid back over a number of years.

It’s also being built without a tax increase.