GREAT FALLS — The property next to Valley Community Bible Church on Flood Road in southwest Great Falls is open land now - but Foothills Community Christian School has big plans for a new athletic complex and soccer field.
They want to host sporting events not only for the school, but for the community as well. It’s a tall task totaling about $6 million to complete, but school officials say they have the backing to get it done.
Foothills advancement director Kerri Koteskey said there will be more than athletics held at the complex and it will be something the school has been waiting years to make happen.
“The athletic program has been looking at the need for a facility for probably the last three, four years. When covid hit, that really solidified the fact that we need to have our own facility. We have a great relationship with the Deaf and Blind school (who share gyms for sports), and it works for both of us but we’ve been looking at this for a while,” Koteskey said. “I helped with coaching this year and I don’t think we’ve gone through a week in a conversation with either other teams or someone in the community when there hasn’t been something that came back to how helpful it would be to have that venue not just for our school but for the community.”
The school has the green light from the city and have a permit approved to develop the complex. They plan on making it 16,100 square feet and having a capacity of 500 spectators for games and a max capacity of 1,200 people. The school will begin fundraising this year and are excited for what the facility will offer the school and the community.
Foothills head of school David Culpepper said they are confident in this plan and are ready to start working on the project.
“We worked with the city planning group. We felt it was a great experience for us and a chance for us to begin letting the city know that there will be another place for people to participate in sports and athletics on that side of the river,” Culpepper said. “It’ll help the families that have older students to feel that they’re in a place that has all the amenities that they’re looking for in school.”
Foothills hopes to have the soccer field completed by this fall and the indoor facility done by fall of 2024.
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