ELMA, Wash. - While most voters across the state supported levies and bonds for schools, Elma voters rejected a proposal for a new high school football stadium.
The election will leave Elma High School without a permanent grandstand starting this fall.
Superintendent Howard King said the existing stadium, built in 1949, is no longer safe and needs to be torn down this spring.
King said the district is looking at bringing in temporary aluminum bleachers or even scheduling home football and soccer games at other schools.
I think the big issue there is the sticker shock, said King.
The bond would have meant an increase of 95 cents for every $1,000 of an Elma home's assessed value. Property owners would have paid for the bond for the next 20 years.
Lee Thompson voted against the proposal. He said voters in county with a high unemployment rate didn't like the idea of a new $8.4 million stadium.
They [the district] can't shoot for the pie-in-the-sky things, said Thompson, Have to come back down to reality and build what this community can afford.
