Triton To Unveil Ernie Watkins Pavilion
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Staff Report-
The 1600-square foot pavilion is located at the Triton High School football field and will house a ticket area, a concessions stand and men’s and women’s restrooms.
A ribbon cutting ceremony will be held Monday at 6 p.m. in the evening.
All Triton fans are encouraged to attend this open house and celebrate with the friends and family of Ernie Watkins.
This past fall, the Triton Athletic Department launched a capital projects campaign called the “Back Our Trojans” campaign to help fund a three-phase initiative that includes the construction of the Ernie Watkins Pavilion, a new football press box, a new baseball press box, and new scoreboards in the gym and at the football and baseball fields.
The “Back Our Trojans” fundraising campaign included naming opportunities for each of the restrooms, the concessions stand and the storage room at the Ernie Watkins Pavilion.
“We didn’t know if anyone would be willing to purchase those naming opportunities,” Triton Athletic Director Mason McIntyre said. “But earlier this year we had a donation offered to cover the naming opportunity for the entire building. I never dreamed that we would have an offer this generous.”
The donation was given by the many friends of Ernie Watkins, who was the Triton School Corporation Maintenance Director from 1968-1988.
“He has demonstrated a warm and caring attitude toward his custodial staff and they in turn demonstrate the same toward him,” former Triton Superintendent Dan Bates wrote about Watkin’s performance. “It is obvious that this strong, positive relationship has developed over the many years.”
“The administration and I have been working on this project since I started in this role five years ago,” McIntyre said. A lot of planning was involved but and it took us time to figure out how we would fund the facility. Thanks to the leadership of superintendent Carl Hilling, and the generous donation, we finally get to see this dream to come reality.”[[In-content Ad]]
The 1600-square foot pavilion is located at the Triton High School football field and will house a ticket area, a concessions stand and men’s and women’s restrooms.
A ribbon cutting ceremony will be held Monday at 6 p.m. in the evening.
All Triton fans are encouraged to attend this open house and celebrate with the friends and family of Ernie Watkins.
This past fall, the Triton Athletic Department launched a capital projects campaign called the “Back Our Trojans” campaign to help fund a three-phase initiative that includes the construction of the Ernie Watkins Pavilion, a new football press box, a new baseball press box, and new scoreboards in the gym and at the football and baseball fields.
The “Back Our Trojans” fundraising campaign included naming opportunities for each of the restrooms, the concessions stand and the storage room at the Ernie Watkins Pavilion.
“We didn’t know if anyone would be willing to purchase those naming opportunities,” Triton Athletic Director Mason McIntyre said. “But earlier this year we had a donation offered to cover the naming opportunity for the entire building. I never dreamed that we would have an offer this generous.”
The donation was given by the many friends of Ernie Watkins, who was the Triton School Corporation Maintenance Director from 1968-1988.
“He has demonstrated a warm and caring attitude toward his custodial staff and they in turn demonstrate the same toward him,” former Triton Superintendent Dan Bates wrote about Watkin’s performance. “It is obvious that this strong, positive relationship has developed over the many years.”
“The administration and I have been working on this project since I started in this role five years ago,” McIntyre said. A lot of planning was involved but and it took us time to figure out how we would fund the facility. Thanks to the leadership of superintendent Carl Hilling, and the generous donation, we finally get to see this dream to come reality.”[[In-content Ad]]
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