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Mount Dora High raising funds for stadium
Friday night lights are a big deal in Florida, and for the past six decades, one Lake County school has been playing in a stadium that has looked the same since the day it was built in 1961.
MOUNT DORA, Fla. - Friday night lights are a big deal in Florida, and for the past six decades, one Lake County school has been playing in a stadium that has looked the same since the day it was built in 1961.
"They’ve put a few Band-Aids here and there to keep it going, but the stadium looks pretty much exactly the same," said Marlene Straughan, Mount Dora High School Principal.
Now Mount Dora High School is raising money for renovations they desperately need. There are condemned bathrooms and a concession stand that has been deemed unsafe to cook in, so the school brings in food trucks for the home games, so people can buy food to eat.
"We had irrigation problems," explained Russel Fickett, senior football captain, "and the field would always be flooded. Fickett said those problems have since been addressed. "We put new sod down and everything is looking a lot better," he added.
Over the past two years, Mayor Crissy Stile, the school, and community members have raised over a million dollars.
"Of course, now that we’ve raised that million dollars, it’s been two years coming out of COVID, so construction costs just skyrocketed," said Mayor Crissy Stile.
She says they need just under half a million dollars, which their hoping to raise by raffling off a brand new 2023 Tacoma truck. Once the money is raised, Stile says the construction company they plan to work with will be ready to go and hope to finish construction within eight to nine months.
And even though the senior football team captains won’t be able to enjoy the new field, they are excited their younger teammates will get to and are thankful for the community’s support.
"It feels really special that they are trusting us that they really want to see this come to fruition and special that they have faith in us," said Afrifa Amoah-Mensah, senior football captain.
"Hopefully by the end of this it’s a lot better, and I can watch them play on it," said Tommie Wheler-Petrkin, senior football captain.