As finishing touches are applied to Lehighton's new athletic stadium, many within the district are eagerly anticipating the completion of the $6.3 million project.

"I am extremely excited to see this project come to an end," said Lehighton Director of Student Services and Facilities Planning Kyle Spotts. "There has been a lot of hard work that has been put into this so it will be great to see the final product when it is all complete."We are anxious to get the feedback from the community and students. I think everyone will be thrilled with the venue and take great pride in the stadium they have and where they compete."That time will come sooner rather than later.While many have looked to the fall and the start of the football season to kickoff the new era of Lehighton athletics, it's the track and field program that looks set to hold the first competition at the state-of-the-art complex this spring, though construction is not entirely finished."We still aren't quite finalized with everything at the stadium as we are waiting for the paving to be completed," Spotts said. "That has been a hold up because of the asphalt plants not being open during the colder months. If the paving does not get done by our first home track meet, it will be extremely disappointing, but we will do everything from the district's end to make sure we are still able to use the facility."As work moves ahead outside the stadium, quite a bit was done inside to accommodate the many jumping and throwing areas that needed to be altered during construction."There was a lot of work done to accommodate track and field events at the new venue," said Spotts. "The shot put and discuss area had to be relocated and completely redone. The zones with the pole vault, long jump and high jump areas had to be completely redone as well since the old venue had grass in those areas (and the new facility features artificial turf)."The track is set to be resurfaced immediately following the high school's track and field season, which should allow the venue to be utilized at the beginning of June for all summer activities."Though the 62-by-260-foot field house and restroom facility is still not yet ready for use, early returns have been positive."So far the feedback has been extremely positive," Spotts said of the facility that will also be home to the boys' and girls' soccer and field hockey teams in the fall. "We have been able to get our baseball and softball programs on the turf when their fields were not in good shape and the track team has been outside almost every day."The kids really seem to enjoy it from what they have seen so far. We have not been able to open the entire facility (field house) yet to the students, but when they see that I think they will be extremely happy."With home and visitor grandstands that will hold over 3,000 people, a new lighting system and an electronic scoreboard in the stadium's south end zone, there is hope the new facility can be home to some larger events, though one will not be possible."Unfortunately, the track was positioned where it was not cost effective to expand the entire track to be eight lanes. Currently our sprint area is eight lanes with the remaining track only being six lanes," said Spotts. "We looked into it because our central location in District 11 would be ideal for hosting the district track and field meet, but it just was not cost effective to build the area up where we needed to and add the two additional lanes."With all of that said, I think there is an opportunity for the program to host an invitational in the future."And those prospects give Jim Blakeslee, who is entering his third year as Lehighton's head track and field coach but 31st season overall, great enthusiasm for what's to come."As a long time employee and coach the stadium is great but there are some things that are not completed yet," said Blakeslee, who is a guidance counselor at Mahoning and Shull-David Elementary Schools. "The school board made a great decision to progress Lehighton into the future (with the new stadium)."Practicing outside has been wonderful, but when we get full use of this stadium, that will be the greatest day."The first home meet for the varsity team is scheduled for Wednesday, April 6 against Blue Mountain, while the middle school squad is set to compete one day earlier.