BY TIM GAYLE
Special to the Elmore/Autauga News
Photos courtesy of Brian Tannehill Photography
WETUMPKA — The construction work on Wetumpka’s new municipal football stadium is nearing completion, adding the Indians to a growing list of high school teams in the state that will be playing their games on artificial turf this fall.
But the replacement for Hohenberg Stadium is more than just a football field on Friday night. It’s a source of community pride for both the town’s residents and its football team.
“It provides a real shot in the arm for the football program,” Wetumpka High coach Tim Perry said. “The whole community is excited. But you look around the state at some of the top programs and you look at their facilities and it adds some creditability to our program, that now we have a facility that is equal to some of those top-tier programs. It solidifies that we’re keeping in step with some of the top programs around the state.”
Perry didn’t mention those programs by name but virtually all of the Birmingham suburb teams have nice stadiums with artificial surfaces – Mountain Brook, Vestavia Hills, Hoover, Spain Park, Thompson and Helena, just to name a few. Throw in some of the recent conversions or stadium constructions that Wetumpka officials studied, such as those at Spanish Fort and Saraland in the Mobile area and Muscle Shoals in the Florence area, and it’s clear that an all-purpose stadium with an artificial surface is a must.
“This is an economic development project of the City of Wetumpka, not just a stadium,” Wetumpka mayor Jerry Willis said. “The citizens will have 175 acres that will be completely related to sports and recreation. We will be able to host most any outdoor sporting event. All of these things will generate revenue for the city. This has been a very successful partnership between the city and the county. A lot of people got together to make this happen.”
The $6 million stadium project still has a few more weeks before completion but should be finished before the Indians’ 2020 home opener with Tallassee on Aug. 28. The stadium, located on Alabama Highway 14, will seat 1,500 for visiting fans and approximately 4,000 in the home grandstands, not counting a two-story facility on site that will serve as a gathering spot for the town’s clubs and organizations.
Willis said neither coronavirus nor inclement weather has deterred the project from being completed on time.
“The virus did not put us behind whatsoever,” he said. “We are finished with the visitors’ side and the entrance and parking areas will be the next to be completed. I drove by there the other day and it looked real good.”
While Perry is understandably proud of his team’s new home, he is quick to single out Willis and Wetumpka Parks and Recreation program director Ron Dickerson for their vision.
“In 2017, when we were 6A runners-up, Mayor Willis invited the team and the coaches to a city council meeting,” Perry said. “At the end of it, he said I don’t know when and how, but I’m going to build you a palace. As time went by, we kind of forgot about it but then he contacted me and asked me to come by his office, where he presented the plan to build a new stadium.
“It was his initiative, him and Coach Ron Dickerson. They took that on as a personal project and just did it. He said he would build us a palace and he’s built one. There are some bigger high school stadiums with a few more bells and whistles, but for us, we’re excited.”
Perry said Willis and Dickerson were quick to point out any additions or modifications may be difficult, so getting it right the first time has been a focal point for the group.
“What’s really been rewarding is Coach Dickerson and Mayor Jerry Willis included me, our quarterback club president and some other people in town at every step of it,” Perry said. “He’s been open as far as input. Now, everything did have to fit within the budget but it’s been exciting to have some input.”
The Indians will get their first work in the new stadium in a little over three weeks. Wetumpka opens the season on Aug. 21 in the AHSAA Kickoff Classic against Prattville in Montgomery’s Cramton Bowl, which features an artificial surface, so the Indians will practice for a couple of days on their new artificial surface to prepare them for the game.
“We’re primarily going to use it just for games, but we will try to schedule some practices at times,” Perry said. “Our first game, for example, is against Prattville at Cramton Bowl and we want to get over there and practice on the turf once or twice before we go down and play at Cramton Bowl.”
