LOCKWOOD - Lockwood High School is moving closer to opening its inaugural Class A doors, and progress on the school's new athletic facility is on target to finish as one of Montana's best.
“The community has really been buzzing about those type of things," superintendent Tobin Novasio told MTN Sports. "The kids are really excited, too. They’re pumped to get in and start using those facilities. Our kids deserve as nice a facility as anybody in the state, and we’re going to have what I think will be the nicest facility in the state.”
“It’s very exciting, because you are starting all these brand-new sports, and you also have brand-new facilities, brand-new equipment," said Lions athletic director Tony Derrig. "I think we’re very fortunate to have what we have here."
Lockwood will feature a turf football field, a 2,700-seat gym with standing room that’s connected to an auxiliary gym, two turf softball fields and a state-of-the-art track. Novasio and Derrig hope the new facilities lead to state tournament bids down the line.
“Obviously, track is something we’d be interested in, state track," Novasio said. "I know they’re struggling sometimes to find places to host those. We’re open to all those types of things.”
“I think the trouble that we’ve seen in the past with rain-outs and trying to get divisionals in, and state (tournaments) in, I think this would be a great place to come," said Derrig. "We’ve got softball fields that are turf, ready to go.”
The new facilities are funded by local taxpayers, so Novasio is hoping to bring as much athletic action to the new digs as possible in years to come.
“We’re excited about being able to fill that gym and being able to host tournaments here and give back to the community by bringing business into the community to offset some of the tax costs," Novasio said. "We’ll start small with those tournaments and get our people trained and down the road anything is possible. Like we said, we really want to pay back the community by bringing business to the community businesses that have supported us.”
The football field is expected to be ready by the fall, the gymnasiums shortly after and the track next spring.
