Construction has taken over FHS. Starting at the end of the 2023-2024 school year, current construction projects include the renewal of the football, soccer and baseball fields and storage shed. So far, the removal of the portable classrooms, wrestling room and weight room has taken place. A new field house and a large athletic facility will take the place of the removed portables and wrestling room.
The planning for the construction, which began approximately a year and a half ago, included large amounts of paperwork and running a bond election to gain state approval. The field house is scheduled to be finished by late spring of 2025, while the baseball field will be finished in the following winter, according to FHS Varsity Football Coach Rob Swartz and Principal Bryan Emmert.
Students and staff eagerly anticipate the new field house and football field. Athletes are especially excited for the construction to end, as their practices have been impeded by the construction. During the summer, football players had to play on the softball field due to the soccer and football field turf improvement.
“[The old football field] was all smashed down, and it really isn’t safe to play on, so [it was] just one of those things that needed to be replaced,” Swartz said.
On Sept. 18, 2024, the varsity football team had its first practice on the new soccer field. FHS sophomore Aslam Ahmed believes that the changes were beneficial. Since the entrance to the room is right next to the football field, players have a shorter walk. Before construction was complete, players had to walk entirely around the football field and track in order to reach the locker room.
The field house, which will include a gym, weight room and robotics center, is currently being built on the blacktop near the soccer field. A new wrestling room and warehouse will replace the old facilities on those premises, according to Emmert.
“We’ve needed a weight room since forever because we’ve had the one that’s converted from the old showers underneath the stadium,” Swartz said. “So the weight room has been something that we’ve needed here at Fremont for the last 30 years.”
Football is not the only sport affected by the construction. During summer and through mid-September, both girls field hockey teams were forced to practice on the softball field because of the limited space availability with the baseball field still under construction.
“[The construction] is good for the long run, but right now, it’s just a bit in the way to practice,” FHS sophomore Abigail Futsum said.
The field hockey team had their first home game on Sept. 23 on the soccer field, against Homestead, which they tied zero to zero. The football team had been practicing on the soccer field for the first few months of the season, but with the completion of the stadium construction, they were able to move their practices back to the football field, creating space for field hockey’s first game.
On Sept. 19, the football team played their first game, a 14-43 loss to Palo Alto. Although the football field was completed, the track around it was still under construction during the game. Fences surrounded the track, and staff and players were instructed to avoid the area. Walkways were placed over the track so players could move from their warm-up area to the field.
The renewal of the fields and the addition of the field house are not the only construction projects that the FHS administration is working on.
“The next [construction project] that will start some point in the future will be looking at the art building,” Principal Emmert said. “That building has not been touched yet.”
As construction is occurring through most of the 2024-25 school year, many areas of the school are blocked off, causing students to make do with a smaller campus. As things reopen, students will have more opportunities to move throughout campus and make use of the new facilities.
