Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Prescott's new sports arena dedicated part 2

"This facility is beautiful," she said. "The people of Prescott should pat themselves on the back for this facility. This encourages young people to be the best they can be. Young people can be what they want to be, and this is the start of the process."

Nevada County James Roy Brown kept his comments short, thanking Superintendent Ron Wright for going such a good job.

"People don't realize what you went through," he said. "They voted for a millage and should be proud of this new gym. Everyone should be proud of the new gym, as it will benefit everybody."

Board President Rick McGough, said visions of "Little Bud" began when a Little Rock firm told the district funds were available for a millage issue where the district's bonds could be refinanced at a lower rate, with the state picking up part of the tab.

During the course of the talks, mention was made of building a new gym. The community, McGough said, loved the idea and residents asked how they could help.

"The rest," he said, "is history."

People volunteered to work phone banks and call others about the millage for a new gym. There was a broad base of support, he said, with the millage issue passing overwhelmingly.

"Raising money was the easy part," he said. "Spending it wisely is where they challenge was."

The new facility, he said, is the results of thousands of hours of research deciding how to get the most for the money available.

McGough recognized former board members Jim Franks and Willie Marks, who were on the panel when the project began.

He asked the public to let the board know what it thinks of the new facility as it's a "work in progress".

Wright was the final speaker of the afternoon, saying he hit the board with the idea of nicknaming the facility "Little Bud" as this is what people in the community had already been calling it.

The board agreed, and the logo "Little Bud" was painted in the foyer of the new facility.

During the entire process, he said, people came up asking what they could do to help.

"I can't say enough about the voters of the district," he said. "They went to the polls and committed to pay for the future."

The board, when first discussing a new gym, met with Rainey and Beardsley and was told what it would need to do in order to refinance the bonds and pass the millage.

Board meetings were held twice a month, instead of monthly to get all the ducks in a row.

Wright said the multi-purpose sports arena was the final project to be started after the millage was passed. First on the list was $1 million in renovations to buildings on all three campuses in the district.

Once the renovations were done, he said, work started on the arena.

The arena's lobby will also be used to help provide lunch for students at PHS, thereby improving safety as the students won't be walking over to Prescott Elementary for lunch.

It will also keep PHS and PES students separated.

In the past, he said, people were able to drive through the campus, as a road went from the street to the old gym. The placement of the new structure eliminated the road and motorists can no longer drive through the campus.

The original bids for the new gym came in at $3 million. Problem was the district only had $2 million to work with.

To help save money the district went the construction manager route, hiring Wade Abernathy as the project manager.

The architectural firm of French and Harris of Hot Springs was called in to do a redesign of the structure and get it back in budget.

Wright said De Queen is in the process of building a new gym, similar to Prescott's, but it's costing that district $3.3 million.

Later on, Wright said, the parking lots will be paved in front of the home economics building and the old gym. Paving, though, won't begin until warmer weather arrives and the job can be done right.

Wright said the district is bidding on the regional basketball tournament this year, with hopes of getting state tournaments in the future.

Next year, he said, Southern Arkansas University's Riderettes and the University of Central Arkansas Sugar Bears will be invited to play one of their games at "Little Bud." This is because two former Wolverettes, Stacy Stockton and Traci Graham, play for those two schools, and were instrumental in leading Prescott to the state finals in 1998.

"I hope the community will use the facility every chance it gets," Wright said. "I have ideas on how to do this, and we're not totally through with it."

Tours were given of the arena after Wright concluded the dedication with the ceremonial cutting of the ribbon.

Gurdon's Go-Devils were the first team to visit the new arena, and the first to deal with the hot pink visitors dressing rooms.

Pink, Wright said, was selected as the color for the visiting dressing rooms because it's supposed to mellow people out and make them less aggressive.

To get the games underway, Ward presented the officials with the game ball at the start of all three games.

Congressman Mike Ross was on hand to present a flag for the new gym. This flag, he said, was flown over the nation's capitol before being brought to Prescott.

Fans filled the stadium almost to capacity, which is 1,550, with some preferring the catwalk to sitting in the bleachers.

Along with the larger seating capacity, there isn't a bad seat in the house as the game can be seen from anywhere in the facility, much in the vein of Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville.

The Athletic Booster Club sold reserve seats for an extra dollar, with most of these theater-style seats being filled by fans wanting to get closer to the court and the action.