De Soto High School will soon get two new video scoreboards.
The De Soto Board of Education voted unanimously Sept. 19 to purchase a video scoreboard for the football field and a two-sided video scoreboard for the school gym. The district is buying the scoreboards from Nevco Sports LLC of Greenville, Ill., for a total of $374,805.
Joshua Phipps, assistant superintendent of operations, said the district has to pay the down payment and cost of installation upfront, totaling $187,402, or 50 percent of the overall cost of the scoreboards. The district will use revenue from the $19 million bond issue voters approved in April to pay for the first half of the scoreboards.
“The other 50 percent will be deferred for two years to be paid through marketing funds,” he said.
Phipps said the district has a solid plan for marketing, and Nevco representatives will help the district with marketing.
De Soto Superintendent Ron Farrow said in two years, the marketing plan should generate well more than what the district owes on the scoreboards, and any revenue generated from the scoreboards would go to athletics.
“Revenue will go into an activity account that will be used for field and stadium upkeep and maintenance, including any future scoreboard maintenance needs,” he said.
Phipps said the scoreboards were ordered on Sept. 20 and will be installed during Christmas break.
He said the scoreboards can do a lot more than just display game scores, adding that they may be used to display game highlights; advertisements and commercials; and full movies.
In his report, Phipps said the athletic department began researching the installation of new scoreboards as a solution to audio issues they’ve been having at both the J.C. Culwell Stadium and the gym.
Also on Sept. 19, the school board approved expenditures for two other bond issue projects.
The board agreed to pay Capitol Group of Fenton $14,082.39 in materials needed to complete a full renovation of the restrooms at the stadium. The district’s maintenance department will provide the labor.
The board also awarded a $6,500 contract to local contractor Mike Hensley to demolish and remove the existing grandstand and bleachers, with that work to take place in November, pending weather and usage of the fields.
Board members also awarded contracts for bond issue projects at their July meeting.
The board awarded a $1,099,875 contract to Southern Bleacher of Graham, Texas, to install a new grandstand and bleachers. That project is expected to be complete by March 14.
The board also entered a contract with Building Resource Studio (BRS) Architects of Richmond Heights to serve as an architect for three design-build projects: an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) project at Athena Elementary, ADA seating at De Soto Junior High School and a security vestibule at De Soto High School. The architect will be paid a percent of the estimated $1.5 million construction budget, and Phipps estimated the architectural fee at about $99,000.
In addition, the board also entered a contract with Daikin/TMI of Chesterfield, which will oversee numerous roofing projects.