After multiple fundraising efforts aimed to help rebuild the Athens High School football field following this past fall's destructive tornado, the school will be able to start the project thanks to a generous alumnus donation.
Scott Riggs, a 1981 alumnus of AHS, will donate $300,000 over a five-year period to help rebuild the stadium that was destroyed during the Sept. 16 tornado.
AHS has fund raised over $1 million to rebuild the stadium, said principal Mike Meek, but this particular donation put them in a position to begin construction on April 1. The school's goal is to raise $1.5 million, Meek added.
That (donation) more or less gave us the green light to get this done
Meek said.
Riggs, whose brother, sister, daughter and son all graduated from AHS, said he thought it was appropriate to step in and donate, adding that he hopes his donation will encourage others to donate to the cause.
Sometimes devastation happens and that's sort of what happened to that field Riggs said. I just hate to see it not get rebuilt correctly. This is a chance for our family name to go on for a long time. I just felt it was the time.
Before the tornado hit, the field was named after the Rudder family. The Rudders donated $40,000 in 1968 toward building the stadium that was eventually destroyed by the September tornado, said Mike Rider, vice president of the Bulldog Blitz Booster Club.
The field itself will keep the Rudder Field name, but with Riggs' recent donation, he will get to name the new stadium.
Riggs, who owns a communication company in Harrisburg, Ill. said that he plans to name the stadium with the family name.
I think it's either going to be Scott Riggs Field or Riggs Family Field. I really don't know
Riggs said. (The communication company) is a regional company just in Illinois and that's not the proper fit for that ... (the donation was) from the family not the company.
The school hopes to complete the building of new stadium by the end of August, before the start of the high school football season, said Meek, adding that they plan to have a ribbon cutting ceremony prior to the beginning of the fall high school sports season.
We're recognizing everybody that's donated to this
even donations of time
materials etc.
Meek said. We're going to make this like a historical thing ... to remember everybody that donated.
Riggs said that he and his family plan to be in attendance for the ceremony.
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Pat Holmes
