By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Board members for Bellevue Independent Schools are making plans to renovate Leo Gilligan Field and Ben Flora Gymnasium, two historic athletic facilities that have been used by several generations of high school athletes.
At their last meeting on July 17, board members reviewed design development drawings and a statement of probable cost submitted by architects Robert Ehmet Hayes and Associates for the two-fold project.
The drawings and statement are both posted on the Bellevue Independent Schools website. Total cost of the project is listed as $6,412,180 on the final page of the statement.
Superintendent Misty Middletown doesn’t plan to release anything about the renovation project until after the next board meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 21, according to Bellevue High School athletic director Jim Hicks.
“This is when everything is supposed to be finalized,” Hicks said in an email. “At the previous meeting, the architecture firm gave the update that they were about 60% of the way finished with what they needed to do. Everything is supposed to be complete by the next meeting which is Aug 21.”
The adjacent athletic facilities are located on Berry Avenue, several blocks from the Bellevue High School building.
Football teams have been playing home games at Bellevue Civic Stadium, which includes Leo Gilligan Field, since 1936. The stadium was a federal project built by the Work Progress Administration during the Great Depression.
The first boys basketball game played at Ben Flora Gymnasium was in January of 1972. It’s also been the home court for Bellevue volleyball and girls basketball teams for the last 52 years.
The stadium, which also includes a track and tennis courts, is expected to have a synthetic turf playing field. Last season, the only local football teams playing home games on natural grass were Bellevue and Dayton, two long-time river city rivals.
Three months ago, Dayton had a ground breaking ceremony for a new synthetic turf field and field house on its campus. That project is expected to be completed before the start of the 2025 football season.
All “A” Classic organizers select new site
for 2025 state basketball tournaments
Holy Cross girls basketball teams have won three All “A” Classic state tournaments and each one was played in a different city. That could happen again next year when the tournament takes place at the Owensboro Sportscenter for the first time.
The boys and girls small-school state tournaments were played at Corbin Arena last January and Holy Cross took the girls title. The Indians’ won their other two All “A” Classic championships at Eastern Kentucky University in 2023 and at Frankfort Civic Center in 2015.
The tournaments were supposed to return to EKU this season, but that wasn’t possible for two reasons. Renovation of McBrayer Arena on campus may not be done in time and the EKU men’s and women’s college basketball teams scheduled home games on dates in January that are usually reserved for the All “A” Classic.
“The more we looked at it all we thought for this coming year we should go ahead and go some place else and see if we can iron everything out for next year at Eastern,” said Gary Munsie, chairman of the All “A” Classic organizing committee.
Munsie said there was no discussion with Corbin Arena officials about bringing the tournaments back there. And the committee was familiar with Owensboro because the All “A” Classic state softball tournament is held there.
Returning the basketball tournaments to EKU is the long range plan. If scheduling conflicts with college games there continue, Munsie said they would consider other sites, including Northern Kentucky University’s Truist Arena.
“That might be something were have to look at in years to come if the (EKU) conference scheduling is still a binding problem for us,” Munsie said.
More than one high school basketball player attracting interest from college recruiters
The list of college basketball teams offering scholarships to Newport junior point guard Taylen Kinney just keeps getting longer, but there’s a local senior who’s also drawing attention from recruiters.
Cooper shooting guard Andy Johnson has received offers from five Division I college teams during the month of July while playing for the Kentucky Hoop Dreams in the Prelude League for AAU teams.
On his X account, Johnson posted offers from Youngstown State, Morehead State, Eastern Kentucky, North Florida and Boston University over the last nine days, and there could be more coming.
Last weekend, the 6-foot-5 guard helped the Hoops Dreams U17 team make it to the semifinals of the Prelude League season-ending tournament by scoring 23, 31 and 28 points in three of their four games that were attended by college coaches.
Meanwhile, Kinney’s stock continues to rise with his latest offers coming from Kansas, Arkansas, Florida State and Michigan. The new head coach at Arkansas is John Calipari, who spent the last 15 seasons with the Kentucky Wildcats.