Photo Credit – Manitowoc Ships Football
It’s going to cost more to complete a new baseball field for Manitowoc Lincoln High School.
A memo from the Manitowoc Public School District says that the project is about $500,000 short.
Business Manager Nathan Mielke recommends that the board use money from one of their funds.
However, Mielke says he needs more time to look at it to make sure the district can use the funding for the baseball field since it’s controlled by the state.
Some school board members, including Kerry Trask, are skeptical about using the money after the school board already allocated $900,000 toward the project.
He explained that he thought that was all that was needed, and having to use more money shouldn’t happen.
“I’m upset about the feelings that I’m having, that I went ahead in good faith, and now it’s come back to bite me,” he exclaimed. “So, I feel bad that I didn’t take action that was fair to the taxpayers, and I don’t like personally being caught in a situation where I feel like I was somewhat deceived.”
Finance Committee Chairman Keith Shaw says the money isn’t for more work on the project.
“This money is to pay bills,” he noted. “The project is underway. This money is a loan to pay our contractors for getting the work done.”
Lincoln Baseball Coach Bruce Steinbecker told the board that what’s been donated so far, including the $900,000, will benefit students for the next fifty years.
Financially, the community raised more than $1.2 million, but that money is still coming in yet for new items at the field.
“The first one is our continued donor board,” the coach explained. “So we still have room on our fence. We still have the concession naming rights available. We have been told and offered the opportunity to host Sectionals. We are actively trying to get those funds to make good on our part.”
MPSD Board President “Biff” Hansen reminded the board that Municipal Field, before it became Bruce Steinbecker Field, was not owned by the school district, but was allowed to be used for high school baseball by the City of Manitowoc.
He also said that he feels the extra money is worth it because the baseball field has been done correctly, like other projects, and will be worth it in the end.
Board Member Mary Lofy Blahnik says constituents have been asking questions about the project.
“Why did we break ground before we had the money to pay for it?” she posed as the question asked by constituents. “And we don’t know that in our own homes. The projects we do for houses, you don’t go paying for something or you don’t get your thing until you have the funds for it, right? And I don’t know how to answer that question then because we’ve always done it that way. And that’s a scary answer.”
Before she was a board member, Ann Holsen explained that it’s hard for her to hear what’s going on because the district is facing millions of dollars in facility needs.
The school board tabled the amendment for loaning up to $500,000 so the district’s business manager can work with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
Ground was broken on the new baseball field in July this year, with construction expected to be done in Spring 2026.