BILLINGS— Daylis Stadium in Billings is moving closer to its groundbreaking on Dec. 15, which will usher in new grandstands, turf, locker rooms and a track.
Watch work at Daylis Stadium:
Billings Motorcycle Club removed some of the old bleachers from the site Friday morning, which they plan to repurpose.
“We plan to use these at the Billings Motorcycle Club on our motorcross track, what we call the Island track, and we're gonna use it for spectator use there and man, it's a great deal,” said Dallas Parkins, a club member.
“This is a big deal. I mean you do not have to pay for it,” added Parkins.
According to Billings School District 2 Director of Facilities Scott Reiter, demolition of the grandstands will begin by Wednesday, and construction should start sooner than expected.
“We've just completed the asbestos abatement in the building, and they got done earlier so we were able to move our timeline up,” said Reiter.
“We're still going to have the groundbreaking ceremony— doesn't matter where we're at with the demolition— we'll either have a little bit of building up or no building up,” he added.
Donors who contribute to the remaining fundraising have the chance to get a part of the stadium named after them.
The renovated stadium will be renamed as Sam McDonald Memorial at Daylis.
According to Billings School District 2 Athletics and Activities Director Mark Sulser, amenities such as the west grandstands, east entrance and a couple locker rooms have not been named.
The groundbreaking will take place at Daylis Stadium on Dec. 15 at 3:30 p.m.
“We're really getting close. And once we have those naming rights… the vast majority of the facility will be funded,” said Sulser.
Sulser said the cost of the project has increased since the idea was conceived two years ago.
“We had a couple bumps in the road, as you always do with a project like this. The first one was just inflation. This started two years ago, and inflation pushed that number,” he said.
Related: Billings School District to raise $10.5 million to improve Daylis Stadium
The project will cost an estimated $14.8 million. As of Friday afternoon, Billings School District 2 has contributed $6.25 million, and the private donors have contributed $5.6 million.
Nearly $3 million still needs to be raised, but Reiter said he is already grateful for the generosity the community has shown.
“There was a lot of support from the community. Some businesses and personal, private people donating. It's just been amazing to see how many people helped out to make this thing work,” said Reiter.
