Volunteers build new Ridgefield High School stadium gate

School officials see project as tribute to community, class of 2021

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Those attending sports games at Ridgefield High School’s stadium next school year will have brand-new arches to walk through as the district celebrated the official unveiling of a new entrance, a project solely funded and constructed by donations and volunteer labor.

On June 8, dozens of community members gathered at the gate as Ridgefield High School seniors ceremonially cut the ribbon on the project that was completed in a little over a month. In a letter to district families, Ridgefield School District Superintendent Nathan McCann said the project was inspired by the resiliency of the district high school’s class of 2021, who graduated on the property a few days later after more than a year of COVID-19-related trials.

During the ceremony, McCann explained he was approached by LSW Architects owner Casey Wyckoff about doing a conceptual design for the entrance, potentially funded through a future bond project for the district. LSW has designed a number of projects for the district that had been funded by past bonds approved by district voters.

McCann said he got together with RSD Board Member Brett Jones to come up with a way to do it without dipping into the district’s capital funds.

“None of this is tax dollars, It’s all donated,” McCann said.

McCann said one of the key players in the project’s completion included more than $100,000 in steel and labor donated by Alliance Industrial Group (AIG) and its owner and company president, Jim Buchan.

“This is representative of something more than just the functionality of ticketing and welcoming folks through the gates at a game. It’s really about welcoming the community as a gathering place,” McCann said.

He said the project was indicative of “Ridgefield math” where the sum is greater than the whole of its parts due to the number of people who contributed to the project.

The district also had support from Ridgefield City Councilor Rob Aichele, whose “infectious enthusiasm,” according to McCann, helped keep the project moving.

“He made this job become very personal for him,” McCann said, reflecting on the “hours upon hours” Aichele worked. Before he retired, Aichele had a career in construction, including as a site superintendent, which he put to use as the entrance was built.



Aichele said the cost for the project was around $230,000. From his career days, he said he had worked with both Buchan and Joe Curry, the owner of Anchor Concrete. 

Aichele noted a cutout on one of the beams that reads “Henley — 39” for Buchan’s granddaughter, Henley, who was born while the project was underway. She will be part of the graduating class in 2039.

“This is a volunteer project like none other that I have ever seen or been involved in,” Aichele said.

Other businesses and groups involved with the project included Emerick Construction, Jones Landscape, Ridgefield Boosters, Prairie Electric, Riff_Creative, and RIXIR Systems, according to a prior letter from McCann.

Jones, the owner of Jones Landscape and a 1994 graduate of Ridgefield High School, said his great-grandfather was on the board when Union Ridge Elementary School was built, adding his own daughter would graduate later in the week.

Jones reflected on the level of change the district has seen since his family first came to Ridgefield in the 1930s.

“Next year, when our athletes and students walk through these gates, they’re going to have a sense of pride,” Jones said.

School board president Joe Vance said the project represents the fact that despite the differences of the people in Ridgefield, there are some things they can all agree on.

“It’s a tribute to an entire community that has come together and volunteered in such a way to make this possible,” Vance said about the project.