Nonprofit wants to revitalize Blankenship Field, Jack Armstrong Stadium

Posted at 2:58 pm April 6, 2015
By John Huotari 7 Comments

An overall view of the proposed renovation of Blankenship Field and Jack Armstrong Stadium.

A nonprofit foundation wants to revitalize Blankenship Field and Jack Armstrong stadium and create a world-class gathering place that can accommodate more than 20,000 people in a natural amphitheater for sporting and other events, organizers said.

The Blankenship Field Revitalization Foundation has been formed by private residents, and it is led by Tennessee Senator Randy McNally, an Oak Ridge Republican. Organizers said the foundation is coordinating the revitalization project and fundraising activities in cooperation with the City of Oak Ridge and Oak Ridge Schools.

“In revitalizing Blankenship Field, we hope to honor the historic founders of Oak Ridge, a community dedicated to world-class education, scientific discovery, and a high quality of life,” organizers said.

They hope to make the revitalization a vital part of the new Manhattan Project National Historical Park, connecting Jackson Square and the original site of Oak Ridge High School. The new Manhattan Project park includes Oak Ridge; Los Alamos, New Mexico; and Hanford, Washington. The Manhattan Project was a top-secret federal program to create the world’s first atomic weapons during World War II.

“For over 70 years, Blankenship Field has not only been the home of Oak Ridge High School Wildcat football team, it has been an important gathering place for the city that brought the world into the atomic age,” organizers said. “Seventy-plus years of wear are now showing, and it is time to restore and maintain this critically important Oak Ridge landmark.”

The cost of the proposed project was not immediately available Monday afternoon, but it is split into two phases:

Phase I

Main Entrance—ticket booth at field level with plaques honoring Oak Ridge and Wildcat historical events and people
Front Parking Lot and Lighting—with walkway from main entrance to Jackson Square
Large LED Scoreboard—with video and media options
Installation of Turf Field—featuring wrought iron fencing and decorative brick columns and donor recognition wall
Visitor’s Side Concessions and Restrooms
Advanced Energy-Efficient Lighting and Communications

Phase II

Home Side Stadium Building—with expanded locker rooms, press box, skyboxes, and club seating

Funding sources are proposed to include:

60 percent public contributions,
20 percent grants,
10 percent city and school participation, and
10 percent grant of in-kind services.

Organizers said the Blankenship Field Revitalization Project will be completed in conjuction with the Jackson Square Revitalization Project ($1 million) and the recent completion of the Guest House renovation ($5 million).

Contributions are tax deductible.

For more information, call Oak Ridge High School Athletic Director Mike Mullins at (865) 425-9603 or send him an email at [email protected]. You can also visit the Foundation’s website at blankenshiplegacy.org.

Foundation board members include:

David Beck
Mike Mullins
David Bradshaw
James T. Normand
Richard G. Chinn Jr.
Gregory S. Palmer
Christopher J. Corwin
Phil Parrett
Pete Craven
Jack Pope
Scott Underwood
James C. Powers
Lawrence A. Hahn
Jill Prudden
Len M. Hart
Nat Revis
Jim Helton
Wayne Roquemore
Randy McNally
John Smith

A view of the proposed ticket building at Blankenship Field.

An image of what the proposed backside of Blankenship Field (the upper entrance) could look like.

The proposed press and skybox area.

An interior view of the proposed club seating.

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Sam Hopwood

This type of project will probably run 9-10M dollars and should be funded entirely by private contributions, no city or school (taxpayor) funds. Guess who would be sitting in the “sky boxes, club seats?” Why the largest contributors I would suspect. With all the problems OR currently has, high taxes, high utility bills, high city debt and no increase in population, a much more modest face lifting would be appropriate. Have at it and good luck but NO city taxpayor funding. Just my view and I am an old wildcat from way back when!
- johnhuotari
  
  Sam,
  
  I’m trying to get current cost estimates. I should have the earlier estimates in one of my earlier stories, but I don’t know if they’ve changed. I’ll post new info if I get it.
  
  Thank you.
  
  John
  - WK Hyatt
    
    John: The full job if completed as drawn up will probably be around $10 million. Not sure of the exact amount but that is close. There are donors out there if we can get them to, that could probably cover that, and a stage would not be started until the money is in the bank to pay for it. City/School money would be minimal, like the parking lot below the ticket booth, which they are going to do this summer (which also benefits Jackson Square) and perhaps such things as permits, sewer, water, electrical tie-ins etc. Not very much at all. Certainly nowhere near as expensive as the ongoing sewer work, or other city projects.
    - johnhuotari
      
      Thank you, Keith.
  - WK Hyatt
    
    BTW: Kingsport DB just spent over $4 million on J. Fred Johnson Stadium, which like ours is about 70 years old. They installed 1800 upper deck seats, a new press box and new lights. This was in addition to field turf installed a couple of years ago and a field house built around 2006. I believe the funding was split between the City of Kingsport, Kingsport Schools and private donations. Looking forward to seeing it in August when we go up there to play. Other schools that have upgraded stadiums in the last few years include Johnson City Science Hill (entire new stadium), Greeneville, Morristown, Sevier County (all fields), Rhea County, Maryville, Grace, Catholic etc. All with new field turf installed and some other improvements. I also saw that even some smaller schools in Oklahoma had installed field turf because of the long term savings in avoiding watering, seeding, painting, etc.
Mike McEahern

The concept looks fantastic – obviously a lot of good work by a lot of folks already. I tend to agree with you Sam about taxpayer funding, but surely there are maintenance and upgrade expenditures which are already targeted for the stadium that could be appropriate to contribute to these renovations. I intend to help with the private party portion, although I regularly sit in the ‘cheap seats.’ 😉
Gary Love

It sounds like a great idea if it can be privately funded, and it could probably be used for not only football games but maybe concerts and other events. It could be a revenue generator for the city.