The Jasper High School Football team and other school programs will have a new artificial turf to play and practice on throughout the year as the proposed turf project for Jasper’s Jerry Brewer Alumni Stadium has received a final approval and is now a go.
After nearly three years of talk and discussion since it was first proposed, last night members of the Greater Jasper Consolidated School Board unanimously gave the final go ahead to proceed with the project beginning next month.
Not only will the facility that was first constructed in 1961 receive a new artificial turf, it will have a new track and D-Zones installed as well.
The board approved a proposal for the cost of the turf to include a 2 and a half inch blade height and just under 10 pounds of infill. It will also include the addition of the sideline letters with the naming of the field
The board also approved a proposal to remove the existing latex track surface and install a more durable Poly-resin track surface on the entire track surface as well as install the same type of Poly-resin surface to the south D-zone area which will now be asphalt paving.
Total cost for the project will come in at 976-thousand 9-hundred and 16 dollars. All of which will come from a private donor.
Jasper High School Athletic Director Andy Noblitt says with turf it will allow for the facility’s use across the summer, winter and spring.
He says the new turf will allow for the facility to be more versatile…..
Not only will the field have new turf and resurfaced track by next season it will also have a new name.
The facility was originally know simply as Alumni Stadium when it first opened 56-years ago. A number of years ago it was re-named “Jerry Brewer Alumni Stadium” in honor of the legendary Jasper Football coach who guided the program for 44-years winning 368 games (then a state record) and a state championship in 2001.
Last night the board agreed to add the name of one of Brewer’s long-time right hand men to it’s title.
The facility will now be know as “Jerry Brewer Alumni Stadium and Joe Rohleder Field”.
Rohleder served under Brewer as Jasper’s Defensive Coordinator for 30 years before stepping down after the 1997 season. Both men are members of the Indiana Football Hall of Fame.
Rohleder who also created and coached the Jasper Wrestling program for many years was inducted into the Indiana Wrestling Hall of Fame as well.
A target date of May 15th has been set for work at the field to begin and is expected to be completed by August before the start of the new football season.