BILLINGS — As the Helena High football team began filing into the visiting locker room Thursday at the new Sam McDonald Stadium at Daylis, players were noticeably taken aback.
The last time Helena visited, or any other team for that matter, the stadium was a worn-down relic in dire need of renovation. The facility, which opened in November 1929, got its much-needed facelift over the course of the past year, a price tag of $14.9 million.
So this was a welcome change for the Bengals and all other teams, athletes and fans who utilize Billings Public Schools' newest digs on the campus of Senior High.
WATCH: Helena High blitzes Billings Skyview, 41-14
"I think we just created the finest multi-use facility for high school in the state of Montana," said School District 2 athletic director Mark Sulser while looking out onto the venue from the top of the new west grandstand. "Every inch of this property has a purpose and that's the part for us that that I think we hit the mark on.
The first official varsity event took place Thursday night as Helena clashed with Billings Skyview in the season opener for both teams. But this is more than a football facility.
A gleaming 10-lane track and its accompanying areas for field events make this a multi-functional facility capable of hosting state championship events in more than one sport. And the synthetic turf is also striped for soccer.
Behind the scenes, the stadium features customized locker rooms for each of SD2's schools — Skyview, Billings Senior and Billings West. The visiting locker room, as the Helena players made clear, also pulls out all the stops.
There are new field lights, more restrooms and safe seating areas among the many enhancements.
Photos: Opening of the new Sam McDonald Stadium at Daylis in Billings
The school district was ultimately forced into the renovation — though it had always been a vision — when the old brick west-side grandstand was condemned two years ago and deemed too dangerous for spectators.
"I think probably the overriding factor in all this is this is truly a Billings Public Schools facility," Sulser said. "The fact that each of the three schools have their own home here, and that we can put on an event without tucking the officials into a closet somewhere. It's just really cool.
"We have some small areas — our concessions area is not giant. We have a grill facility on the south end that we can activate for booster club events or fundraisers. But then we created a space on the other side for our food trucks and other vendors.
"So we've just kind of made it where there's a spot for everybody. And I think other than the fact that this really is a multi-use facility, you know, it's an all-three-schools facility."
The stadium is named after the late Sam McDonald, a legendary athlete from Senior High who graduated in 1954 before becoming a local businessman and philanthropist. But Sulser said it was important, too, to include "Daylis" in the naming of the facility.
The stadium was renamed in 1947 in honor of Fred Daylis, a former coach, teacher and administrator at Billings Senior who died in an automobile accident that year near Custer in Yellowstone County.
"That was really generous of the McDonald family," Sulser said. "They're the ones that were open to that idea and actually were fully on board with that."
While Thursday marked the new stadium's official opening with its first varsity event, the grand opening will be held Saturday, Sulser said, with a parade and dedication.
A new era for high school athletics in Billings has arrived.
"I won't (live) to see the end of this stadium," Sulser said. "I think aside from some future work on the east side as maybe a Phase 2, this is a 50-year, turnkey deal. It's going to be really nice for the next 50 years for sure."
