LINCOLN — When Peru State College plays home football games in the Oak Bowl, a student employee stands by in the women's bathroom with a plunger.
Her job? Come to the rescue as needed to unplug the three ancient toilets.
At Chadron State College, the bleachers in Armstrong Gymnasium have been known to swallow small children and trip elderly people.
The college's basketball and volleyball teams routinely share locker rooms with their opponents because there are no other choices in the 50-year-old building.
State college supporters gave these and other examples Tuesday in support of funding to renovate and expand the two athletic facilities.
They told members of the Appropriations Committee that the facilities are outdated, dangerous and not accessible for people with disabilities.
State Sen. John Harms of Scottsbluff led off the testimony on his Legislative Bill 1019.
The measure would provide $13.7 million toward the $15 million cost of renovating and adding on to Chadron's Armstrong Gymnasium.
It also would provide $8.6 million toward the $14 million cost of fixing and improving Peru's Oak Bowl stadium.
Harms said the facilities have numerous physical problems and don't meet the needs of the colleges' athletic programs.
"We need to have state-of-the-art facilities so we can begin to attract the students of the future," he said. "Both of those facilities are embarrassing to this great state."
Harms said Armstrong Gymnasium has had no major renovation since it was built in 1964.
Among the problems: The walls are cracking, proper women's locker rooms and air conditioning are lacking, and the weight room is dangerously overcrowded.
Because it is the largest gathering space on campus, the gym houses graduation ceremonies. But many attendees have to watch via video hookups from another building, said Jane Parks, the college president.
At the Oak Bowl, which dates to 1900, problems include steep steps with no handrails and seating for only 890 people.
The field house cannot hold the entire football team for meetings, and there are no locker rooms for opposing teams. An open concrete drainage ditch runs along the visitors' side of the field.
Will Jackson, a Peru State football player and Omaha Northwest High School graduate, said the facilities at his high school were better than the Oak Bowl.
No one testified against the projects.
But the projects will have to compete against several other demands for state dollars, including the University of Nebraska's four major construction projects and the governor's tax cut plan.
Contact the writer:
402-473-9583, martha.stoddard@owh.com
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