JACKSON, Mich. — Students can get in shape and practice several different sports in this brand new multi-million dollar field house at Jackson High School. It’s part of a larger project that officials say will enhance the school district.
“I really like,” senior Tavion Tanner said. “I don’t have to worry about practicing in the cold now. You know how Michigan gets. It gets a little too cold outside. So, we’re in here now every day. Keeping my body right, so I’m not getting injured outside.”
The Al Glick Athletic Center was a project years in the making. Glick donated $10 million to Jackson Public Schools for athletic improvements, $2 million of which went to the field house.
“It’s not just about a big building, this is about designing programming that really will lead us into the next generation,” Superintendent Jeff Beal said. “This isn’t for the kids. This is for the kids who have yet to come, right? We want the very best for our students. I want the very best for every student at Jackson Public Schools, and this right here as well as premier facilities that you just won’t find on a high school campus really anywhere.”
Underneath the turf is a thick shock pad designed to prevent injuries. Beal says, as soon as the football season is over, they are going to remodel Withington Stadium’s field with the same product to help protect kids.
That’s not all.
“Obviously we’ve got weight training classes that run in here all day long,” Beal said. “It’s a classroom primarily first, but the field is striped for soccer, for baseball, for softball. It’s got track lanes in it. Obviously, the football is here.”
He says this facility will be used for a variety of events.
“What does this look like for graduation? I don’t have to fight the weather anymore. This might be an indoor graduation venue," Beal said. "There’s a lot of possibilities. We’re really kind of just kicking the dust off of these things.”
The appeal of a new field house attracted potential staff as well, such as Strength and Conditioning Coordinator Crystal Brinker.
“When you go to a high school to be in this position, you want to be support. You want to be part of a big community,” she said. “When I saw that, it was like this additional ‘wow,’ such a big affirmation of how much, one, the community cares and, two, the fact that the district was willing to hire two of me. That’s a huge commitment. Both financially, space wise and time wise. All that stuff.”
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