Sports complex now has name
By KALEY CONNER
Throughout the Hays community, the names Bickle and Schmidt have been associated with generous donations and community projects.
So it came as little surprise to the crowd gathered at the sports complex construction site Tuesday morning that the facility has been given a new name. The Bickle-Schmidt Sports Complex is expected to open next fall.
"One of the things I realized when I moved to Hays back in 1985 is that it was a different place. It was a place where community mattered, and people invested in their community," Vice Mayor Barbara Wasinger said. "Today, we are in gratitude thanking the Bickles and the Schmidts for their constant support of the children of Hays and all the people of Hays."
The Hays Area Chamber of Commerce conducted a ribbon cutting ceremony Tuesday morning at the facility, located at the intersection of U.S. Highway 183 Bypass and 230th Avenue. More than 100 community members and leaders gathered for the event, at which time the facility's new identity was announced.
Don Bickle and his wife, Chris, partnered with Bob Schmidt and his wife, Pat, in offering the city a $500,000 donation to benefit the facility.
The local philanthropists agreed the donation was about much more than having their name on the complex.
"When you talk about economic development, this is part of it. Visualize, in the future, the different people from all over western Kansas that can come in for various ... sports of all kinds," Bickle said. "I just want you to know that it wasn't just for the naming -- really. It boils down to the fact that we really care about our community, and this is one way to help."
Schmidt was quick to give credit back to the taxpayers and the community members who initiated the project two years ago.
"I think as we look at the amount that Don and I have been able to give in comparison to the amount the community of Hays is giving -- very miniscule," he said. "And the citizens are to be commended for grabbing a hold of the voting issue and overwhelmingly taking it to where it needed to be to build a great infrastructure for the community."
Those funds will be used to secure additional amenities for the park, such as lighting for all baseball/softball fields.
A master plan for the facility, prepared by a grassroots group of residents in 2008, provided for many amenities, including eight lit softball/baseball fields, eight soccer/football fields, three concession/restroom facilities, playgrounds, shade structures and scoreboards.
As plans continued, however, it became apparent that not all of those features could be included for the $8 million construction cost enforced by voters, who approved a 0.5-percent sales tax in November 2008.
"The biggest challenge for the city commission in actually implementing it and making it happen was we just didn't have enough money," Hays City Commissioner Henry Schwaller IV said. "Without their support, we would not be able to finish the project that was promised to the voters back in November and the project that the voters supported."