By TODD FERTIG
TopSports.news
When the Silver Lake football team took the field Friday night for its much-anticipated match with rival Rossville, the players emerged in pairs from the brand new Lake House building at the east end of the field.
Silver Lake patrons cut the ribbon on the school's new Lake House prior to Friday night's football game against Rossville. [Photo by Todd Fertig/TSN]
Silver Lake's football team emerges from the new Lake House for Friday's game against Rossville. [Photo by Todd Fertig/TSN]
The 11,000-square-foot building, completed just a couple of weeks prior to the season, contains a 4,000-foot weight room and 5,000-foot indoor turf area, plus a state-of-the-art concession stand and restrooms open to the public during events.
The Lake House will be a benefit to more than just the football team. Silver Lake employed Meriden-based Mammoth Sports Construction to make upgrades to its football facility in 2021 and baseball and softball complex in 2025. The company worked with the school to design a building to meet diverse needs. The Lake House will be open to community residents for workout classes and youth programs throughout the year.
“It’s a shared venture. That was a big part of the design component of this project,” said Mammoth sales rep Bob Horton. “We went through a pretty painstaking process with the district to make sure we checked all the boxes.”
The indoor turf is striped like a section of a football field. Suspended from the ceiling are nets for throwing and batting. Currently, The Lake House is being used primarily for instruction during the school day, Supt. Mark Farrar said.
“It’s used primarily as a classroom. The weights and PE classes use it,” Farrar said. “We are hoping for (our sports teams) to practice outdoors as long as the weather allows. We hope to use this primarily as a wellness hub. But it will be used in the wintertime by our spring sports – speed and agility work and also with the batting cages.”
Of course, the school’s highly successful football team will appreciate the opportunity to build on that tradition.
Silver Lake's new Lake House includes a new 4,000-foot weight room. [Photo by Todd Fertig/TSN]
Silver Lake's new Lake house includes an indoor turf field, which will be used in a variety of ways. [Photo by Todd Fertig/TSN]
“I loved how we came out of (The Lake House) tonight. That was really cool,” said star running back Dominic Monhollon. “In the new weight room, we can do so much more and get a better lift in every single day. I think it will help (Silver Lake) do way better in all sports. It just gives more opportunities to get better.”
“We’re really thankful to the community,” said Farrar, who thanked those in attendance at a pre-game ribbon cutting. “We had so many generous donations from our community, individuals and groups supporting this effort. So, it’s a testament to the support that Silver Lake has for their students.”
The price of the facility was about $4 million, Horton said.
“The district was very creative in funding for it,” Horton said. “They had some bond money and some capital outlay money to put toward it. And then there are some very generous patrons in the district who were willing to put up money as well because they understand the importance of quality education. It was definitely a community effort to get this building built.
“This is one of the best facilities that we’ve partnered with a school on.”
