News Release

____________________________________________________________

January 24, 2006

Successful Passage of March 14 Bond Will Pave Way for Major Partnership Between Boise School District and Boise State

The Boise School District and Boise State University announced today the signing of a Letter of Intent that, with the successful passage of the District�s March 14 Bond Election, will lead to a future location for East Junior High School and the re-use of the East property as a multi-use sports complex.

�This partnership opportunity is supported by a survey of District residents that shows more than 90 percent of those surveyed agree the District should be entering into partnerships with higher educational institutions, such as Boise State University,� said Dr. Stan Olson, superintendent, Boise School District. �We are, indeed, excited about this opportunity to connect with BSU in this fashion to offer our student-athletes and the students of East, facilities that are conducive to 21st century education.�

Dr. Olson joined with BSU President Dr. Bob Kustra, Boise Mayor Dave Bieter, neighborhood and community leaders to announce the future partnership. Specifically, passage of the March 14 Boise School District Bond Election, which calls for the relocation of East Junior High School in the Barber Valley, will allow:

-- Boise State University to acquire 20 acres of land in the Barber Valley for the new East Junior High School;
-- Boise School District to exchange the current East Junior High School property (approximately 15.5 acres) for the 20 acres BSU acquires in Barber Valley. The exchange will be based on appraisals of both properties to be agreed on by both parties;
-- Boise State University, with input from the District, will develop plans to build a track and multi-use sports complex on the current East site. The track and multi-use sports complex will be suitable for and accommodate the joint use by BSU and the District.

Construction of the multi-use sports complex will allow Boise State to remove the current track from Bronco Stadium and relocate it at the East Junior High School site. That will allow for added improvements at Bronco Stadium, including additional stadium seating, and more.

�This is a tremendous opportunity to serve the needs of our emerging Bronco football program, as well as Boise State�s intercollegiate and intramural programs, including our track program and women�s soccer. At the same time we also achieve the goal of providing a much-needed multi-use facility for students in the Boise School District,� Kustra said.

Currently, the Boise School District�s four high schools � Boise, Borah, Capital and Timberline all play their football games at Bronco Stadium. With the growing popularity of the Bronco football program, securing Bronco Stadium for high school football is proving to be more and more of a challenge. Building a multi-use sports complex at the East site will allow student-athletes in the Boise School District to play their football games without the scheduling conflicts that have increased at Bronco Stadium and also allow District high schools to play their games in a venue that is more conducive to high school sports.

�I want to remind people, again, that none of this will take place without passage of the bond come Tuesday, March 14, 2006,� Olson said.

In keeping with its historic roots, the multi-use sports complex will be modeled after Public School Field, which existed at the east site in the 1930s before East Junior High School was built. Public School Field was used for a variety of sports, including track and baseball. Photos of Public School Field were unveiled at the news conference.

-30-

Contact: Dan Hollar, Boise School District, (208) 854-4064, dan.hollar@boiseschools.org  or Frank Zang, University Communications, (208) 426-5391, frankzang@boisestate.edu

Boise State University is the largest institution of higher education in Idaho with about 18,600 students and 2,200 faculty and staff. More than 190 undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and technical degrees are offered within eight colleges. A metropolitan university located in the capital city, Boise State is committed to life-enhancing research, teaching excellence and public service.


 

The Office of Communications and Marketing - Boise State University
1910 University Drive - Education Building, #726 - Boise Idaho 83725-1030

208-426-1577
(fax)208-426-4001

email communications@boisestate.edu

Last reviewed on Wednesday, January 03, 2007