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Rhinelander Dome Project Gets Contractors, Groundbreaking Within Weeks

School District of Rhinelander

The momentum toward the construction of a sports dome at the School District of Rhinelander field near Mike Webster Stadium picked up Monday night with the official acceptance of bids.

At a special meeting, the school board accepted bids from Musson Brothers of Rhinelander, and S.D. Ellenbecker of Athens for construction. The board also approved bids to upgrade some of the baseball fields at the schools.

Superintendent Kelli Jacobi says the Hodag Schools Foundation has raised nearly $2 million for the project. The School District had committed $5.7 million with costs in the neighborhood of $8.3 million.

Jacobi says several donors attended the meeting. She says the initial donation more than a year ago by Dr. Lee Swank got the project moving...

"We have Dr. Swank to thank for that. He really got this ball rolling. He had concerns because so often our spring weather don't allow for spring sports to have places to practice.."

Jacobi says the project consultant will meet with the contractors to see where costs could be cut to keep the project within budget. She says with the recent meeting, things could move quickly...

"The contractors will start putting their plans in place, we will look at, depending on weather, when they actually can break ground, we'll plan a groundbreaking ceremony,(Krall) 'Groundbreaking might be this spring and possibly by this fall it would be done?'(Jacobi) Correct, mid-to-late September for an opening..."

The dome is projected to be 125, 200 square feet and will be air-inflated.

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