Incline trustees to hear $4.5 million youth stadium proposal

INCLINE VILLAGE - The Incline Village General Improvement District Board of Trustees meeting Wednesday could be a critical turning point in determining if the community - and its youth - will enjoy a new sports complex late next year.

At the meeting, IVGID General Manager Bill Horn will ask the board to grant him permission to seek a land sales transaction with the Washoe County School District. The deal involves IVGID purchasing the upper field at Incline High School - about 2.7 acres of land - from the school district, a move Horn says is crucial to obtaining funding from Washoe County.

Those funds, of which $550,000 are available, represent the second-to-last funding step for the proposed $4.5 million Community Stadium 2009 project, scheduled to open in October 2009.

"If we can get the 4B funds, which I believe we can if we own the land, this committee is committed to raising the $3.5 million needed for the project," Horn said.

The Community Stadium 2009 project has been a large issue in Incline Village and Crystal Bay since about a year ago when the school district breathed life into the project by donating $450,000 for an all-weather track.

Since then, a steering committee, of which Horn is a member, formed to discuss surrounding the track with a state-of-the-art outdoor sports facility. The IHS Booster Club also has allocated $50,000 for the project.

Some of the features planned for the complex include an all-weather track, an expanded all-weather football/soccer field, new directional lighting for night events (which would conform to Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, nonnuisance lighting standards), new restrooms and new and expanded bleacher stands, all of which would be located on the site of the current football field. The upper field, where many IHS sports teams practice, would be renovated to all-weather fields, as part of the project.

IHS Athletic Director Dan Schreiber, a big fan of the project, said he hopes the project stays on track for its October 2009 deadline.

"It's not only a disadvantage when it comes to coaching, but also for recruiting," Schreiber said. "It's hard to sell coaches and players to come here when we've got kids cooped up in the school for six months, and then when it's time to start practicing for spring, they're back in the gym again."

Horn also details the project's give-and-take feature, which allows the community to have access to the new complex after school hours, and limited access while school is in session.