Ilion High School - Class of 1972

Herkimer Evening Telegram - November 17, 1971

Using $100,000 Diss Estate Bequest Would Develop Sports Complex

Article 20

Using $100,000 Diss Estate Bequest Would Develop Sports Complex
By BOB KELDER

ILION - A committee to explore several proposals aimed at developing the land around the Ilion High School football field into a sports recreation complex with the $100,000 Diss estate bequest was named at a joint meeting of the Village Board and School Board last night.

After a long discussion, the boards named this committee to investigate costs: Edward Snow, village engineer and administrator; George Schulz, buildings and grounds superintendent for the school system; and Joseph Sorge, athletics director.

The three will be asked to investigate several proposals talked over at the meeting, and return in a couple weeks with recommendations.

Then the several proposals will be presented to Surrogate's Court to see which ones comply with the terms of the will of Dr. C. J. Diss, Ilion physician who made the bequest when he died in 1955.

If a couple of the proposals appear to be suitable to conditions imposed by the will, the boards will name a citizens committee to study these and come up with final recommendations.

Mayor James Garnsey said he hopes the committees will move fast so that a final proposal can be ready Jan. 1.

Federal Funds?

He explained Mohawk Valley Development District, Inc., Mohawk, has indicated federal funds may be available, and that an application for these funds should be filed by that date.

Garnsey said the funds are among those earmarked for areas of high unemployment, where a major industry has left, as has Sperry Rand UNIVAC.

He said MVEDD feels that the Diss fund project would be favorably considered, and that the grant would be 80 or 90 per cent of the area’s contribution through the bequest.

The three men named to the exploratory committee were selected for specific reasons. Snow, being an engineer, will be asked to provide cost estimates; Schulz, knowing the football field area drainage problems, will be asked for his views on this aspect; Sorge would be asked to see if conversion of the land would would accommodate all sports.

Order of Priority

At the outset meeting, Village Trustee James Spellman, said a reading of Dr. Diss' will and the view of Surrogate's Court indicates the athletic facility should primarily benefit high school pupils, then the village residents, Also, it must be near the high school, he added.

Russell Putnam, school board president, agreed, noting that the school board had discussed several ideas, all centered on or near the high school football field, just south of the high school.

Putnam said one possibility would be to drain and install tile in the football field and place lights so that it could be used year - round for several sports besides football.

He also suggested that the field might be moved to the east against the hillside edging on Russell Park, forming a natural grandstand. If this were done, the road now on the east side of the football field, would be moved to the west side, he added.

Village Trustee Robert Reynolds said he liked the idea of moving the football field against the hillside. He said the project would leave the area suitable for several sports and would seem to fit in with the terms of Dr. Diss' will.

Miss Shirley Hoeschele, school board member, said she favored development of the football field area if it would provide what is lacking now, a year - round sports program for youngsters, including winter sports.

Several members pointed out a baseball diamond would be provided by one or two of the proposals. At present, the baseball team has to use the South Fifth Ave. diamond, a considerable distance from the school.

The baseball field could be made part of the proposed transplanted football field, or it could be developed further southwest, cornering on Philips St.

Schools Supt. James Dunn noted one proposal evolved by school board members was that land between the present municipal swimming pool and the school could be purchased with part of the funds and used for extending a proposed baseball field. At present, this strip of land is unused, he indicated.

One - Way Traffic

Robert Thompson, school board member, said he favored one proposal which would make traffic exiting on Philip St. one - way, if the road encircling the football field was transplanted westward. The other one - way entrance, or exit, would be on Weber Ave.

Thompson noted this would reduce traffic on Philip St. about 50 per cent. He noted that present heavy traffic, if continued, will mean the street will have to be rebuilt soon. Also, narrow Philip St. already poses a snow - removal problem in wintertime, he added.

Near the conclusion of the session, members of both boards pointed out all the offshoots of the basic development proposal were ideas to be considered by the exploratory committee, with some perhaps to be discarded.

The new effort to utilize the Diss bequest comes about a year after the two boards reached mutual agreement to build an indoor swimming pool at the high school. However, this was abandoned due to rising construction costs and reduced state aid.

An additional would be needed for that project, the boards discovered.

Dr. Diss left the basic $100,000 to the school district and village of Ilion for an athletic facility that would benefit the school district and the residents.