Fairborn City School's Superintendent Gene Lolli said this project took the whole community.
"Great night here! Has generated a lot of excitement, and we are ready to go. I don’t know who’s more excited, the kids or the adults," said Lolli.
There is a saying, 'Good things come to those who wait.' Well, Fairborn students have waited for a new high school and athletic facility for decades.
"We had some very, very old outdated facilities from the 50s and it was time. This community was ready for a change, and this community stepped up to pass two bond issues for this," said Lolli.
Lolli said the first bond issue passed in 2020, the ground broke in 2022 and on Friday, Sept. 6, Fairborn High School hosted its first football game.
The whole project cost $95 million. That includes the new high school, performing arts center and athletic facilities.
Lolli said the students understand how much the community cares.
"I passed kids in the hall this morning and I don’t have to say anything. They’re saying, ‘Mr. Lolli, this is fabulous. Thank you very much.’ So, the thank you goes to the community getting behind this," said Lolli.
Larry Cox, Fairborn's head football coach said it took one more thing.
"The Board of Education, the administration and the taxpayers had the vision to create what I believe, and I’ve been doing this a long time in southwest Ohio, people would ask me, ‘The Miami Valley?’ No, southwest Ohio," said Cox.
The training center houses the weightlifting area, two battling cages, a practice space for track and all of Fairborn High School's sports can be played on this campus.
Kevin Alexander, Fairborn City School's athletic director talked about what student’s reactions have been when they showed up at a brand new high school.
"You see our students walking into school each day with a little pep in their step," said Alexander.
Over 300 student tickets were sold for the game, more than Alexander said he has seen in the previous seven years he has worked in his position.
Now, student-athletes can dream even bigger for the future and have the facility to assist them.
"You can't blame facilities anymore. Now, it’s got to have the want to," said Cox. "It can be done wherever you’re at, but now you do have a little bit of an advantage over the average student-athlete. Wit... Click here to read full article
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