Renovations Underway at Field House
The field house at Daniels Field football stadium was originally built in the fall of 1974. It houses the football and track teams’ locker room, boys wrestling lockers and practice room, showers, bathrooms, laundry room, and coaches office.
After 51 years of serving Perry athletes and coaches well, the conditions inside the field house have been deteriorating and are in need of many upgrades to get it up to today’s standards. With thoughtful consideration and input, the renovations began in early May with Joe D. Hall General Contractors leading the project construction.
Funding for the renovations are coming from the 2018 school bond sale, expected to cost an approximate total of $600,000. Demo work is now complete and improvements will include new flooring, new lockers, new ceiling, paint, updating showers/bathrooms/plumbing, HVAC ductwork modifications, new LED lighting, rearranging some interior walls, and more. These updates will focus on the inside of the building; none planned for the exterior at this time.
The wrestling room walls will receive new pads around the practice mat area. The individual wrestling state champion photos have been saved and will be displayed again once the construction work is complete. Wrestling championship year placards were taken down and given to the Perry Wrestling Foundation. New signage with all PHS championship records will be purchased and installed on the wall.
In addition, a wall mural is planned to feature and honor Perry’s Olympian wrestlers, Danny Hodge and Jack VanBebber, and 4X state champions, Cecil Beisel (1978), Laddie Rupp (2009), and Ian Fisher (2010).
The original desk of John Divine, who coached Perry wrestling for 30 years and is considered the father of the sport in Perry, has been preserved and will be moved into the coaches office at the field house.
Construction will continue throughout the summer, with the intent to have it completed by the first home football game in the fall. An open house will be held in the fall for the community to tour it.
Monthly updates with progress photos and information will be posted on the Perry Public Schools website www.perry.k12.ok.us.