Voters approve bond proposal to renovate athletic fields

HOUGHTON — Students of Houghton-Portage Township Schools will be able to enjoy some important upgrades in the near future. That’s because voters passed a $10.9 million bond proposal on Tuesday, bringing an end to a multi-year process.

Houghton-Portage Twp Schools Superintendent Doreen Klingbeil said, “We started four or five years ago, taking a look at our facilities and we have aging facilities.  We have issues that were outside and inside the school building and these were areas that have not been upgraded or renovated with previous bonds, so we took a look at safety concerns and issues and we took at look at that.  We have many meetings to talk about that before we came out with our proposal.”

Included in the proposal are renovations to the athletic fields, building improvements and a new drop-off and pick-up area at Houghton Elementary School. With so much to do, where do they start?

Klingbeil said, “We going to be getting together and we’ll take a look at the timeline of events.  Of course, we have to work around the school year.  We also have to work around the seasons, so it’s not as easy for us because it’s not like we can do these renovations all year long.  So we’ll have to plan them accordingly.”

It will be 90 days before the funds are made available, so the Gremlins will likely have to wait at least a year before they begin playing on their new field.