After eight years of hard work and lots of help from the community, the renovation of the Wescott Athletic Complex is nearly complete.

The final cog was put in place when the new concessions and restroom building was used for the first time this past Friday.

“It’s been fun to see the growth and I’m glad we are were we are,” said Al Eckman, chair of the Wescott Field Improvement Project for the past eight years. “In reality we’re pretty close to being done. But we’d like to get some lights on the track and get some wind breaks. We’d also like some shrubs and more signage up.”

The Concessions Stand cost is currently estimated at $315,257 according to Lori Volz, Director of Finance and Operations at Austin High School. But $25,000 of the cost was donated by labor from the Riverland Community College construction and carpentry students.

Those students are just a few of many who have put in time or money for the cause. Of the original estimated cost of $4.2 million dollars for the entire project, Eckman said over 90 percent of the costs were paid for by donations — including one million dollars from the Hormel Company and another million from the Hormel Foundation.

In all, Eckman estimated that over 500 people donated in forms ranging from business to class reunions, and over 120 people volunteered time and work to the cause.

“It’s hard to put a price tag on all the volunteer help we’ve had. (The cost) was covered by just about entirely all donations. Very little school money was used,” Eckman said. “It was so fun to have the community step forward. We’d have meetings and it was always like, ‘we’ll get somebody to this.’ And you’d get out here and it would be done. We asked for help and I can’t ever remember being denied.”

Eckman pointed to a sense of pride and need for repairs as the reason for the donations. Before the renovation, the track, which used to run around the football field, had cracks and only six lanes could be used on part of it, the soccer teams had to practice at Todd Park or wherever they could find a field, and the stadium had a fence than ran very close to the playing field.

“I think everybody is excited about our athletic program. Our tradition is unbelievable and the facilities really needed a makeover.” Eckman said. “All of the school’s buildings are updated and Wescott was the last one. We raised money any way we could. The only thing we didn’t do was have a bake sale.”

Austin High School Athletic Director Tim Hermann said that Wescott is now a place to be proud of.

“There is no doubt that the improvements that have been made throughout the past few years and the cooperation between the different City of Austin agencies, the community members, and the School District have

produced efforts that have placed our facilities at the top of the Big 9,” Austin High School Athletic Director Tim Hermann said.

Although the project took a little longer than expected, Eckman, a retired hall of fame softball coach and former AHS athletic director, said it was worth the wait.

“It was a lot of hard work and we spent a lot of time. We had planned to get it done in four years and it took us eight, but that’s OK. I’m retired and I’ve got a lot of time on my hands,” he said. “I want to thank the Austin community. They’ve been a huge help. The list goes on and on. To mention some names is probably not fair because we’ve had so many people step up.”

The track will be dedicated in honor of Larry Gilbertson, former track and field coach at AHS for more than 30 years, Saturday, Sept. 27 at 11 a.m.