The $16 million multi-use facility for Rossford schools was built without any tax dollars. It will open in August. (Debbie Rogers | Sentinel-Tribune)
ROSSFORD — As students of Rossford Schools begin classes this fall, they will have a new multi-use facility at their disposal, for athletics and e-sports.
The 73,000-square-feet facility is being constructed at the school’s athletic complex at the corner of Ohio 795 and Lime City Road and will be ready in August.
“The construction is on schedule,” Rossford Schools Superintendent Dan Creps said. “Things are going along as expected.”
School officials are in the process of taking suggestions for the name of the new facility.
“We hope to have a name by the groundbreaking,” Creps said.
The facility will include an area for strengthening and conditioning, complete with locker rooms.
The facility will allow athletes a place to train indoors, such as when weather is a factor.
It will also include something only a few other area schools have: an e-sports complex. This is a facility where students can compete as teams with video gaming.
Creps said he is “really excited” that the e-sports aspect of the facility will allow the school to compete at a higher level.
Creps said the Ohio High School Athletic Association is currently attempting to take a more active role in e-sports.
E-sports is also a way for students to get online as part of the learning process.
There are students who want to make a living in areas such as the gaming world, Creps said. This e-sports will allow them to work toward that goal.
“We want a major part of this new facility to have a focus on it. Sylvania and Perrysburg offer that now,” Creps said.
Another aspect in which the new facility will play a key role is the advancement of science, technology, engineering, and math. There will be an area of the facility dedicated to this growing STEM, he said.
“STEM has been growing quite a bit for the last several years, and we want to be at the forefront of it,” Creps noted.
Creps is proud of the fact the district did not have to go to the voters for funds to construct the facility, which cost approximately $16 million.
“Our (financial staff) worked together fervorously to come up with the funds so we didn’t have to put a levy on the ballot.”
At least at the beginning, when the facility is fully operational, the focus will be for the use by the district’s students. Creps said eventually it would be open for the public to use.
Construction of the new facility began in late 2021.
