School board approves athletic facilities facelift

Tuesday evening, the Park City School Board approved a massive facelift to its high school athletic facilities.

The board greenlit phases one, two and four of a four-tiered upgrades plan, which features new baseball, softball and other fields for its teams. 

The board believes construction on some of the projects could take place as soon as next year. The proposal had received support for several years due to Park City’s needs for mountain town-acclimated facilities. The baseball and softball teams, both spring sports, did not host home games until very late in their most recent seasons. 

Phase one of the plan includes the new baseball and softball fields. Phase two, new soccer fields, tennis courts and more by the high school, and phase four, a new track, a support building on Dozier Field, and bleachers. Treasure Mountain Junior High will be demolished to accommodate the renovations, which are slated to cost $38 million, to be financed by bonds over the next 20 years. 

“We are ecstatic about the athletics project being voted through last night at the school board meeting,” said baseball coach David Feasler, who’s been a staunch proponent of the proposal. “It opens up so many possibilities for us, the main one being getting practice time and home games during the spring season. We would like to thank the PCSD board members, superintendent Fine, the PCSD cabinet, Jamie Sheetz, Roger Arbabi, and the entire PC Athletics community for prioritizing this and being vocal advocates for this project.”

Miners football player Reece Smith makes a catch this past season on Dozier Field, which is scheduled to be upgraded with a new track, support building and bleachers as part of phase four of the athletic facilities facelift. Credit: File photo by Clayton Steward/Park Record

Feasler added that he believes the project will further the progress of all sports at the school. The still to-be-approved phase three includes gym renovations, a new fieldhouse and added parking. Phase two’s soccer fields will also be used for lacrosse games, which had previously been held at Dozier. 

Softball coach Ashley Manusos echoed Feasler’s excitement for the project, saying it’s long overdue. She been wanting her athletes and others at the school to have the same resources as others across Utah. 

“This will impact our program greatly,” Manusos said. “It’s more than athletics — we won’t have to spend all of March and half of April on the road, which keeps kids in the classroom where they should be. There is a reason that in the word student-athlete, student comes first. These kids spend way too much time outside the classroom and away from their families in the spring.”

Manusos thinks she’ll see increased interest and participation in her program. 2024 was her first season with the team, which won a late-season contest and snuck into the playoffs. Manusos is excited about the commitment she’s already seeing toward this upcoming season. 

Manusos wanted to grow the softball culture in Park City when she accepted the job and came on in April. She knows this is a key step for current and future athletes, who now have something to look forward to. 

The board will be taking design and construction proposals shortly for the project. Construction for phases one and four could well take place from April through September, while phase two will likely occur March through August. 

Park City High School is beginning their winter sports season featuring basketball, wrestling and swimming. The upcoming spring season, featuring baseball, softball and more, could be their last without competitive facilities of their own.