Since its original construction was completed in 1934, Junge Field has seen several rounds of upgrades and renovations. With the historic Joplin landmark approaching its 87th season in September, Junge Field will be getting updated again with a new video board, an expansion and remodel of the press box as well as additional handrails being installed for safety.
“It is something that has been long overdue,” Joplin High School Athletic Director Matt Hiatt said. “Junge is beautiful, and we love the place. Anytime something was built in the 30s, you need to spend some time upgrading it. I think after seeing what some of the other schools have done, it made it easier for us to jump on board with that.”
It was clear in the aftermath of the 2011 Joplin Tornado, which absolutely devastated the community with the horrific amount of damage and loss of life that occurred, the city would never look the same. Junge Field was one of the few iconic structures in Joplin lucky enough to be spared by Mother Nature, which adds to the stadium’s allure to the community.
“Junge Field is a jewel of the community,” Hiatt said. “There are not very many other high schools around here that can say their stadium was built in the 1930s as a WPA project. The school district, over the years, has done a lot of upgrades there. I think this is something we need to keep investing in because it is so important (to the community).”
The new video board’s dimensions are 19 feet tall, 40 feet wide, and it will include a five foot tall strip-style scoreboard below that includes time remaining, team names, timeouts left as well as down and distance remaining. There will also be advertising spots around the video board.
To say the press box at Junge Field is outdated might be a tad of an understatement. By no means is it in disrepair, but space is certainly limited. With so many members of local media regularly attending Joplin games, as well as new forms of technology being used each season, the need for renovations and expansion was a must.
The plan is to expand the press box by 25 feet on each side for an additional 50 total feet. The center section where the public address announcer, clock and scoreboard operators work will be expanded to add additional room for media. The coaches boxes will also be expanded from around 7 feet wide to nearly 12 feet wide in order to better accommodate both coaching staffs. The radio/media booths will be expanded from 7 feet wide to nearly 10 feet wide. There are also plans to reintroduce some of the original architecture, bringing back the arch windows that used to fill out the press box.
“The game has changed from a football prospective,” Hiatt said. “Schools are sending more coaches to the box now than ever. We send four, two offense and two defense. That is something a lot of other schools do. The equipment they use has changed a lot, too. We have instant stats and film, so all of that equipment has to come to the press box as well. If you look at it from the radio and media side, as time has evolved we have more people up there, so we need the extra space. We feel like that is important.”
KEEPING THE HISTORIC FEEL
Of course, if you’ve ever attended a game at the Dewey Combs Athletic Complex at Junge Field, you’ve noticed the historic feel of the concrete stadium encasing the home-side bleachers. Keeping the integrity, charm and character of the iconic stadium was one of the more important aspects of the renovation when this project was first envisioned.
“It was important,” Hiatt said. “When the architect first mentioned that it would be possible to go back to those curved windows and bring some of that stuff back that has been covered up on the press box over the last several years, I think that was huge. The outside design and how it’s going to be painted isn’t all the way finished, but whatever we do, it is extremely important to us to make sure that it fits in with the design of the place. And also, it is a way to pay our respects to the way it originally looked in the 30s. We always want to keep that in mind.”
FUNDING THE PROJECT
As for the cost of the project, all of the upgrades have been preliminary budgeted for $800 thousand and will be paid for through advertising agreements over a period of five years. The cost of the video board is completely accounted for and bidded out, but the project’s funding is $50 thousand short needed for the press box, which is approximately the cost of one of the two remaining sponsorship opportunities on the new video board.
“We won’t put in one nail or turn one screw until we’ve got the commitments from businesses (to cover the entire cost),” Hiatt noted about the press box renovations. “We feel like we are close enough to have the architect go ahead and draw up some things, so we can start bidding this project out. Hopefully soon, we will get across that finish line with the money.”
The construction for the video board is scheduled to begin in the second week of May after the conclusion of the middle school track season, which competes at Junge Field. Construction for the start of the press box renovations will be scheduled once the remaining funds have been accounted for. The goal is to have all of the upgrades and additions finished by Aug. 1, starting the 2021 football season with everything completed.
RECENT SUCCESS LENDS TO APPROVAL
The plan had been in the works for these upgrades and renovations to Junge Field for several years, but the tipping point in getting the project approved and underway was helped by the recent success of the Eagles on the field.
“Quite honestly, I think it has played a large part,” Hiatt noted. “Everybody loves a winner and wants to back a program that is having success. What Coach (Curtis) Jasper, his coaching staff and the kids have done over the last three or four years has been huge. I’m not sure we would have been able to get this done without that. There is a lot of interest with Joplin football after back-to-back district championships, a state runner-up finish and competing in the (Central Ozark Conference), which is one of the best conferences in the state. I think it is certainly helped from a revenue standpoint.”
In 2017, Joplin won the Ozark Conference title in a turnaround season that ended with an 8-2 record. The Eagles entered the Central Ozark Conference a year later and finished with a district title on the way to a 10-2 record and a trip to the state semifinals. Joplin followed that up with a perfect regular season in 2019, making a run all the way to the state title game before falling to De Smet to finish the year with a 13-1 record.
COMMUNITY SUPPORT HAS BEEN INTEGRAL
Alongside the success of the football program in recent years, the community support has been at an all-time high, which is another important aspect to the approval of the upgrades and renovations to Junge Field. In fact, taking the community into account went a long way in terms of planning out the renovations, particularly the video board, which will undoubtedly increase the fan experience.
“We are blessed to be in a community where the people care enough that we can go out and raise these types of funds,” Hiatt said. “We want all of our athletic programs to be something our community is proud of. It has been a great experience to be supported by them, and that is very important to us. We are going to keep working every day to improve all of our programs, not just football. To be this close to this far in the process is amazing.
“We want to be a first-class program. I tell our coaches if we are going to do something, we should be doing it really well. Being able to do this with the press box and the video board fits in with our overall goal of, speaking specifically about football, being the best football program in the state of Missouri. That’s what we’re trying to do and I know that is what Coach Jasper is trying to do, too. We want other teams to be ‘wowed’ a little bit when they come into our facilities and see what we have because we are certainly very blessed.”
