The Marion Gardner Jackson Charitable Trust recently awarded $23,500 to the John Wood Community College Foundation to construct a community concession and restroom facility for the College’s outdoor sports field complex on the Quincy campus.

The facility is expected to be completed by summer and will be located northeast of the College’s Student Activity Center, in proximity to baseball, softball and practice fields.  The building is part of the campus site and facility plan and will include handicapped accessible restrooms, concession area and storage.

 

JWCC’s baseball field and north athletic field were created in 2007 and the softball field began hosting games in 2008. Since that time, 2,000 baseball and softball players and fans from JWCC’s Midwest Athletic Conference, and more than 500 youth and community members have used the complex without immediate access to restrooms or concessions.

 

“This is a great example of how private-public partnerships can provide for capital projects that would otherwise not be funded,” JWCC Vice President for Student Services, Mike Elbe, said. “The lack of a restroom and concession facility has long been a concern of our coaches, players, visiting teams, fans and parents of the youth teams that use our fields.”

 

“For the last five years we have been unable to identify a source of revenue to fund the entire project,” Elbe said.  “Our temporary solution was to have players and visitors walk to the Student Activity Center or use portable facilities and we didn’t offer concessions.”

 

“That’s why we are so excited that the Marion Gardner Trust also recognized the need and funded the majority of the $38,000 project,” he said.  “We can complete the final piece of the field complex thanks to their generosity. Our Student Government Association designated $6,500 for building materials and the College will use the time and expertise of our physical plant staff  to offset labor costs, which we estimate to be $8,000.”

 

Elbe says JWCC expects that the added services offered by the building will draw more fans and help generate revenue to help support athletics and maintenance of the facility.  “We hope that more community organizations will consider using the fields once the upgrade is complete,” he said.  “It is a great area for community activities and we enjoy hosting the youth programs in the summer. It can really be a resource for the entire area.”

John Wood Community College Receives a Large Grant
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