T-L Photo/SETH STASKEY TAKING PART in the ground-breaking ceremony for the new state-of-the-art physical education center at Nelson Field were Bellaire BOE member William Marinelli, facility committee member Mike Busack, head football coach Mark Spigarelli, athletic director Molly Feller, BOE member Tom Rataiczak, Superintendent Darren Jenkins, BOE member Mike Wallace, BOE member John LaRoche, project architect Larry Siebieda, Dino Colaianni of Colaianni Construction, Jason Merkel of Colaianni Construction and BOE member Jason Ayers.

BELLAIRE — The new physical education center to be constructed at Nelson Field will soon be a reality.

Ground was broken at the site, which is directly behind the visitor’s bleachers, on Monday afternoon and equipment will begin moving dirt this morning with plans to have the building completed in 275 days or the middle of next summer, weather permitting.

“It’s been a long process,” Athletic Director Molly Feller said. “It’s very exciting and it’s a great step forward for our entire school district and the kids. There have been a lot of people thinking, ‘I’ll believe it when I see it’ because we’ve been talking about it for so long. Well, I told someone today, ‘do you believe us now since there are things moving into place and work has already begun?'”

The talks about a new building at the site actually started in 2006. They have picked up steam since the school secured a grant that will allow the building to be built without using one cent of taxpayer money.

“Everyone’s happy and excited to have this,” Bellaire Superintendent Darrein Jenkins said. “The (current) facility no longer meets our needs. We have some structural deficits in the old facility that prohibited us from keeping it any longer, so we had to do something. The size of this facility will allow it to be used as a multi-purpose facility for all of our student-athletes.”

According to a release, the project is being for through Qualified Zone Academy Bonds.

“The board was supportive in getting municipal bonds and we were able to access those through a grant we got for academic purposes,” Jenkins said. “None of those monies could be used for general school operations, so it’s not operational dollars that could have gone toward the operation of the school. We’re not taking resources away from the boys and girls to be able to do this. It’s a totally different outside source. We’re using extracurricular funds for the project.”

The building is expected to measure 11,800 square feet, which was an increase of nearly 1,500 feet from the original plans.

Clearly the goal of everyone involved is to have the building erected and under a roof by the time the winter weather arrives, so work during the winter months can be done inside the building.

“We’re hoping that nothing goes wrong and that the weather stays like this,” Feller said.

The new building, which will house a boys and girls locker room, training rooms, coaching office, weightroom and other ammenities, will more than double the size of the current building. The new facility will not only be used by the football team during its season. The cross country and track teams will benefit as well as serve as a wrestling practice facility during the winter season.

“The other thing that’s neglected to be mentioned a lot is that one of the driving forces behind this facility was our female athletes,” Jenkins said. “We were able to get the funding to meet the Title IX requirements. Because of (the building’s) size, we’ll be able to meet those needs.”

Feller called the circumstances in which the wrestling team has had to practice, “not ideal.”

“This will give our wrestling team a spot that they can use during their season,” Feller said.

Head football coach Mark Spigarelli admitted that it was time for a new facility.

“I think it’s been 50 or 60 years since they built the current building and it’s really starting to deteriorate,” Spigarelli said. “It’s going to be exciting to have a state-of-the-art facility. Overall, I think we needed it and it’s going to be in a nice place. Facilities are of very high importance.”

Colaianni Construction, which is based in Dillonvale, won the bid to handle the project. It was moving trucks and equipment into place Monday. According to Feller, there’s a pre-construction meeting at the board of education office on Wednesday. From there, it’s full steam ahead.

With the work beginning, the Big Reds’ football team will have to adjust in the meantime because much of their current practice field will be off limits during the project.

“We’ll practice on the game field or go behind the two goal posts and do some things,” Spigarelli said. “It shouldn’t be a problem.”

The committee that’s been meeting about this project has consisted of Spigarelli, Shawn Valloric, Bruce Young, Forrest Merryman, Mike Busack, Arlene Sabatino, Bob Koteles, Norm Papola, Mike Wallace, Tom Rataiczak, Mike Sechrest and Rich Mamie.

“We’ve really sat down for months trying to figure out what we needed and what we could do to be able to help with everything,” Feller said.