Dooley Field falling behind other Greenville County Stadiums....



Once a crown jewel, primarily built with private funds, is in need of many upgrades.


Did you know?

There are only two schools in Greenville County that the district has never built a football stadium for? One of them is Greer High. One of them is Greenville High. For many years, Greer, the team with more playoff games than any other school in the County, played in the old Greer High Stadium downtown, now called City Stadium, and with the loss of playoff games because there weren't enough seats, concerned Greer Jacket Backers launched a successful campaign to build Dooley Field. When it opened more than 20 years ago, it was one of the nicest stadiums in the Upstate. But even with a parade of volunteers who keep it neat & clean, it's not even close to what other schools in the district have.

Just in case you haven't noticed....

*Many big games leave thousands without seats, left to sit on a steep, rocky bank, or lined arouund a chain link fence with poor visibilty.

*Although the Commission of Public Works was gracious enough to build a locker room in the base of the water tower, pressures about security arising from 9/11 will eventually force the Jackets away from the tower. There is not much in terms of facilites in there anyway, and it's a time consuming walk to & from at halftime. A new field house is badly needed. Along that line, there's not even a locker room or even an adequate place for visiting teams to gather for shelter or at halftime. A simple metal room, perhaps with a bathroom under the visiting stands would suffice. Our guests at Dooley Field deserve that courtesy.

*Crowds of 10,000 or more have visited Dooley Field in the last few years, and with Greer's population rising faster that any city in the state, are two restrooms enough?

*The Leland Burch Press is extremely crowded on Friday nights & it is beginning to creak. There have been leaks as well. Four small rooms are not simply enough for clock operators, the P.A. announcer & his spotters, Two sets of coaches, two film crews, our radio crew, usually a visiting radio crew & sometimes a TV crew. Besides those essentials, there are also newspaper writers, photograpers, statisticians, and special guests in the Box. A program like Greer needs twice the space it has.

*Dooley Field has an area under the home side stands that is quite frankly, SCARY. During home games, under the stands, it's dark. The terrain in unstable there too. Many parents will not let their kids go to the concession stands or the restrooms during the game without adult supervision for fear of passing through this area. A little earth moving, some cement & some bright lights could not only make this a safe place, but it could serve as a shelter during cold or rainy nights. It could be a gathering place before games & at halftime for people to talk & enjoy refreshments. This "concourse" could have historical Greer photos & images that honor Greer High Football history & accomplishments.

*The sound system consists of four small metal speakers attached to the four cement light poles. On many occasions only 2 or 3 of the four put out any sound. When the volume is turned up, they produce a crackly unbalanced, annoying sound. When you turn it down, it's not loud enough. Voices sound tolerable, but with any kind of music coming through, the sound is unsatisfactory.

*Some schools do not travel well. Some schools bring lots of fans with them. When the Jackets face Byrnes, or Clinton, or Union, Blue Ridge, Greenville, and many other fine programs, there are not even close to enough room for our visiting fans to have a seat. One former Greer coach once said that he could not schedule some big AAAA teams early in the season because they didn't want to come to Greer because we didn't have enough seats for their fans.

*We do have an adequate scoreboard. It has a clock, and you can look at it & see the score of the game. But is it a scoreboard that is reflective of a program with the history of excellence that Greer has?

*Greer is one of few stadiums that has 25 second play clocks. Over the past several years, a large percentage of the time they don't work. You might say that is not an advantage or a disadvantage, but if our team prepares for a game knowing that they are there, and then they don't work, you could make the case that hurts our team.

*There are many, many places in & around Dooley Field that just need some general refurbishing. New paint, grass on the banks, sprinkler system upgrade, more storage, either another or a bigger concession stand on the home side.

*Our handicap seating is very poor. There is good access, but a handicapped person must sit in the isle between the upper & lower stands. These areas have a lot of traffic and it's not very much fun to watch a game when people are constantly walking in front of you. Some fans park themselves in the isle & lean over the rail, completely blocking some handicapped or elderly fans who must sit on that first row of the upper section.

*Some of the top programs have begun selling "PSL's", or permanent seats. A fan is allowed to pay a fee for a nice, permanent seat. That fan then always owns that seat, as long as they continue to buy season tickets. This feature not only produces much needed revenues for football & other sports, but a long standing relationship between the PSL buyer & the school.

Dooley Field is not exactly falling down, but it has lagged way behind funding for many Greenville County school stadiums. Riverside & Wade Hampton in the last years have gone from having poor facilities to among the best anywhere. JL Mann, Berea, Eastside, Travelers Rest, and Woodmont have had District funded impressive stadium projects either completed or nearing completion, while Greer remains empty handed. A school with Greer's heritage & tradition deserves better.

When asked, District officials have commented about "all the money being spent in the County", and how it is "tough to find the money for a Greer stadium project". It is the opinion of this web site that beacuse of that very reason Greer should recieve it's fair share. Greer High does NOT deserve BETTER funding for a stadium that other County schools. But it does deserve something it's never gotten. IT'S FAIR SHARE. The Yellow Jackets don't deserve the very best stadium ammenties above all the other schools, but we do deserve equal consideration. After the funding & construction is completed, it will then be up to the fine volunteers to make it the best & keep it that way over the years.

We know that officials at Greer High have done everything required to put the ball in the District's court as to have upgrades be given the green light. To date there has been no action taken to do so.

What can you do? You can contact our District 18 School Board member Pat Sudduth. There is no email address listed, but there is a phone number for him by clicking on the above link.

You can contact School Board Chairman Chuck Saylors. He has an email adress & phone number. You can email Chuck Saylors right now by CLICKING HERE NOW!
For a complete list of Greenville County School Board members, or to visit the district web site, CLICK HERE NOW.

Below is a web survey poll created to send to our elected officials. Please take the time to complete (3 minutes) and post any message you might have.

Greer folks have always been positive & proactive. Our kids deserve our best & they deserve our voices to be heard. Please take the time to insure that our school gets to compete on a level playing field and that we can have a stadium that we can all be proud of.


TAKE THE DOOLEY FIELD SURVEY.....CLICK HERE!

I read that. Wilder stadium is the same!

Dooley Field is a great place to see a game, they do need additional stand for the visitors however.

A lot of people don't realize that Greenville county sends money to Anderson county & I know at least one other county (I believe in Western part) for the use of their schools. Over 70% of all property taxes in these areas of the county are sent to other counties. This has been going on for I know around 50+(-) years. I would love to know how much Greenville county has given over the years. Has to be in the millions. Look how much they waste. I know Anderson school district #2 (BHP area) has received a large chunk over the years thanks to Greenville county.

What I'm trying to say here is how wasteful Greenville county has been over the years at the expense of tax payers. They could have built new schools to accommodate kids that live closer to the county lines & had plenty left to help upgrade athletic facilities. Greer is getting the left overs (if any).

Something must be done. I mean Riverside has a nicer place than Greer now. Greer has more football fans than anyone and deserves a nice place, bigger anyway. It is the worse in the county now. The fans must complain.

At least they didn't get your coaches to get out and get a bond referend passed with the promise of $3 million for athletic facilities and then say well that's not how the referendum was worded so sorry but we're giving people what they voted for and not what they were promised.

That's what is happening here in Clinton and not a thing we can do about it. Until election time comes.

quote:

Originally posted by Kick It:
A lot of people don't realize that Greenville county sends money to Anderson county & I know at least one other county (I believe in Western part) for the use of their schools. Over 70% of all property taxes in these areas of the county are sent to other counties. This has been going on for I know around 50+(-) years. I would love to know how much Greenville county has given over the years. Has to be in the millions. Look how much they waste. I know Anderson school district #2 (BHP area) has received a large chunk over the years thanks to Greenville county.

What I'm trying to say here is how wasteful Greenville county has been over the years at the expense of tax payers. They could have built new schools to accommodate kids that live closer to the county lines & had plenty left to help upgrade athletic facilities. Greer is getting the left overs (if any).

What in the heck are you talking about and where did you get this information?

I agree 100% with GG. Greer has always been maligned when it comes to new facilities of any type pertaining to schools. We had to fight tooth and nail to get both Riverside and Greer High School. I do know all Greenville County Schools have got new football stadiums thanks to the county monies being allocated. Except Greenville and Greer. Greenville finally did get their facility updated. Now it is Greer's turn. I don't think we should stop griping and whining and squeaking until we get it done. The barking dog gets the bone. The squeaking wheel gets the oil. The whining, buzzing Yellow Jackets Fan gets the stadium refurbished!

I think I will have a nice chat with Coach Sudduth one day soon on that very subject. I haven't talked with him now in about 5 months....

Anyone else want to have a chat?

Oh... I didn't write that!! I copied it from yellowjacketsports.net.. I was hoping more people would see it and fill out the survey..

quote:

Originally posted by GreerGirl99:
Oh... I didn't write that!! I copied it from yellowjacketsports.net.. I was hoping more people would see it and fill out the survey..

I may be wrong but i think it boils down to Greenville County only having 1 school district.Anderson County has 5 school districts with Hanna and Westside in district 5,Belton and Honea Path in district 2,Cresent in district 1,Palmetto and Wren in 4 and Pendleton in district 3.All these districts raise taxes for schools if improvements need to be met.BHP has all new facilities(football,softball,soccer,baseball etc) and they are some of the best facilities in the state.My taxes went up but it was well worth it because not only BHP got improvements but also the elementary and middle schools in both Honea Path and Belton.Greenville schools must work different because they are under 1 school district and probaly have 60 or 70 schools that need some kind of improvements and the money just isn't there for everyone.

Well, GG, you put it on here. That's what I meant. I took the survey and put in my 2 cents worth too, on the Yellow Jackets site. I had read that before, I guess on there - just can't remember. Greer is always in the shadows when it comes to money, and bright sunlight if we make a mistake. And we never did do anything to upset the apple cart that much --- EXCEPT WIN!

The school district only allocates a certain amount to certain areas! I know that Blue Ridge had to fight tooth and nail to get what they wanted. And then go but heads again just to get their seating capacity to hold a play off game at their stadium! They didn't get much help from the district and I know the rubberized track was mostly all raised by the booster club. If you want it, you have to fight for it and it ain't easy! The board members can recommend changes, but it only takes one member to vote against a project and it gets canned!

Shell: Greenville county does not provide schools for their entire county. For these areas they pay other counties for their use of schooling the students in these areas. An area outside of Honea Path in Greenville county(Princeton/Possum Kingdom) area are sent to Anderson District #2 schools (BHP area). Greenville sends over 70% of ALL property taxes collected from residents in this area (with kids & without kids) to Anderson county. This is not the only area in Greenville county where this happens & has been going on for many years. I believe we would be shocked if we only knew how much is sent yearly to other counties.

Despite making some valid points, I'll take viewing a game at Dooley or Sirrine over any other.

I like Wade Hampton's new additions to their stadium, TR's new one is great, Riverside finally picked up some slack and Mann's finally got a needed facelift..but every stadium (in Greenville County) other than Dooley or Sirrine just feels like something's missing...

quote:

Originally posted by RaiderSpectator:
Despite making some valid points, I'll take viewing a game at Dooley or Sirrine over any other.

I like Wade Hampton's new additions to their stadium, TR's new one is great, Riverside finally picked up some slack and Mann's finally got a needed facelift..but every stadium (in Greenville County) other than Dooley or Sirrine just feels like something's missing...

For the ones that have something missing, they should just copy what Greer does. Isn't that what Greenville did??