Many questions are surrounding the Kiser Middle School rebuild on the Grimsley High School baseball and softball fields…GCS is looking to take away/eliminate the Grimsley High School softball and baseball fields, and one of the biggest questions about this land takeover project might be this one:Why is GCS destroying the Grimsley fields and facilities that are in near perfect condition that our community has helped build and maintain starting back when they were built by Willie Young Sr. and Lewis McCall when there is land directly behind Kiser to rebuild?
Progress always comes at a cost. Unfortunately this cost arrives as a 98mph bean ball right between the eyes of the GHS BB and SB programs. There are zero BB fields not in use during BB season. Recovery for these programs is questionable. https://t.co/ftC2bPa8hp
— Gary Flynn (@GFlynn1957) November 9, 2021
Grimsley Booster Club with this outreach to the local Greensboro community this morning……
Please help us save our Softball and Baseball Fields and Facilities by emailing :
Michelle Reed @ reedm3@gcsnc.com
Pat Tillman @ tillmap@gcsnc.com
Deborah Napper @ napperd@gcsnc.com
There is a plan to build the new Kiser Middle School on these two fields.
They are actively surveying the land.
There is no future plan in writing that has been shared with the public at this time beyond the rebuild of Kiser that pertains to the Grimsley fields and facilities rebuild.
Grimsley has a student population of 1,720.
35% (approx. 600) are student athletes.
The softball and baseball teams are not the only teams that use these fields and facilities. Most of our athletic team rely on these fields and facilities also due to the lack of field space on our Grimsley campus.
Please see the list below of all of the teams that this will affect.
Baseball JV & Varsity
Softball
Field Hockey JV & Varsity
Cross Country
Women’s Lacrosse
Men’s Lacrosse JV & Varsity
Women’s Soccer JV & Varsity
Men’s Soccer JV & Varsity
Many questions that we need to ask the Guilford County School Board include, but are not limited to…
1. Where will our athletes practice and play?
2. Will there be a cost associated with “renting” fields and who will be responsible to pay for it?
3. How will they get to the off campus fields and facilities?
4. If busing is involved who will be responsible to pay for it?
5. Where will the new softball and baseball fields and facilities be built?
6. Where is the money that will be used to build these fields and facilities?
7. When will these fields and facilities be built?
8. Will facilities be built to match or give our athletes better facilities?
9. Where is the plan for the future redevelopment of the fields and facilities?
10. Why is GCS destroying the Grimsley fields and facilities that are in near perfect condition that our community has helped build and maintain starting back when they were built by Willie Young Sr. and Lewis McCall when there is land directly behind Kiser to rebuild?
Click the link below for historical info about the two men that built our beautiful fields and facilities.
https://greensboro.com/whirlies-name-field-for-young-mccall/article_49074f20-2cdb-5fc7-8e79-9871da9837b3.html
Click the link below to see the Guilford County Schools
Facilities Master Plan Recommendations.
https://www.gcsnc.com/Page/62685
Your help in preserving the Grimsley campus is much appreciated!
The Grimsley Athletics Booster Club
I do not have a dog in this fight, but I must say it is another example of bad decisions by our Superintendent and School Board. I know those players and parents are proud of their facilities and they should leave those fields alone. What’s wrong with our school leaders.
Something needs to be done to save those ball fields. We need somebody to step up and stop this mess. Tear down the old Kiser buildings and build the school back there. You could house the Kiser Middle students at the Brooks Magnet School until the new Kiser building is done. I heard they were eventually going to tear down Brooks too, so why not let the Kiser kids go there until their new school is ready and built and SAVE THE GRIMSLEY FIELDS.
Need to get Kevin Kennedy and 2 Wants to Know on this one. Where is News 2 when you need them??? Tell Kevin Kennedy we need him to get on this mess.
I am not Kevin Kennedy but my name is Kevin and I think this Kiser rebuild needs to be stop and reassessed. Why take away the Grimsley fields when there is plenty of land over at Kiser.
This would be a complete waste of taxpayers and donors money to destroy those ball fields. At the same time this would be a disgrace to the families who these fields are named for.
How could the GCS leaders allow something like this to happen. We need to stop them and respect what Grimsley has built and not tear it down and destroy Grimsley High School.
The coaches and the teachers and the families of those these fields are named for deserve better than this. Willie Young Sr. and Lewis McCall don’t need to have their memories tarnished or ruined.
The Guilford County Schools are spitting right in their face.
Better school building for our students > baseball/softball facilities
Its that simple, sad truth most do not care about sports outside of football and basketball.
Yes our superintendent and board has failed again
What they are doing is taking away a chance to learn for the students. Those fields are like a classroom and GCS is robbing the Grimsley kids of a chance to learn. Dr. Contrary does not understand what the full range of education is. Those kids will learn things out there on those ball fields that they can use the rest of their life. With all of the work that has gone in here to create these outdoor classrooms, why is GCS destroying all of these great possibilities for kids to learn more about sports and life.
Contreras does not respect the traditions that exist in Guilford County schools because she is not from here, She also is not a supporter of athletics. She has tried to end middle school athletics and it was only saved by the ridiculous pay to play fee. Contacting the school board is useless. If you have ever watched the meetings on tv it is a clown show. With the exception of a few of the school members most of them are puppets for the superintendent and do not dare question her decisions. The problems that lie within GCS go way beyond what is trying to be done with the fields and will not end until there are changes made on the school board by electing people to challenge some of the superintendents decisions or we get a better superintendent who is not pursuing their own political agendas.
That being said is there someway the Greensboro Historical society can do something about a designation of these fields as possible historical landmarks? Former and present Whirlies need to let their voices heard to put a stop to this nonsense and preserve their legacies.