The Beaver Local School District has released renderings of a brand-new fieldhouse that could be open to students as early as next summer.

21 News caught up with Beaver Local Treasurer Stacy Williams who tells us the goal of this fieldhouse is to give students a new place to hang out after school while doing activities to keep them healthy both physically and mentally.

It will consist many different ways for students to stay fit including of a cardiovascular fitness area, batting cages, a weight room, an indoor training field and locker rooms. 

Williams is assuring taxpayers that this will not cost them a dime, as it's not coming out of the school's operating budget or a levy. Instead, the fieldhouse will be paid for in a variety of other ways.

Former Denver Broncos defensive end and Beaver Local alumnus Derek Wolfe alongside local entrepreneur and Beaver Local alumnus Jamin Pastore donated $1 million to put towards the project.

The remainder of the cost will be paid for with roughly $2.8 million refinanced through the district's bonds, another $1.5 million from ARP funds and the remaining $2 million will be paid for either from the district's capital improvement fund or a loan.

This project was three years in the making, with Wolfe and Pastore donating the million dollars in 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic and rising inflation following the pandemic put the project on hold.

Now, with the looming deadlines to use federal grant funds, the district reopened bidding in hopes that the project will be within budget and continue moving forward.

The two lowest bids were Brock and Associates out of North Lima and C. Tucker Cope and Associates out of Columbiana. The next step is for the architect to hold a scope review meeting with each company.

Each contractor will be scored based on the "lowest responsible bidder." Once the lowest responsible bidder is selected, the district will then enter a contract.

Williams says if everything continues as planned, construction is expected to begin in the spring of 2024 and last about six months with the facility aiming to open in the summer of 2024.