With the architects chosen, more work is beginning to get underway with the proposed football stadium.

The architects, David Stewart and Vince Haines, with PKHLS, presented a proposed project outline at the Football Stadium Steering Committee meeting Tuesday.

“This is mainly meant for discussion,” Haines said. “I think what drives quite a bit of this is timing.”

One thing they looked at was if to have a November vote. While there are philosophies on not putting items, especially anything to do with taxes on a November ballot because some people will simply vote no on everything on the ballot, there also are some advantages, such as the excitement that could be built through football season.

“From today, we still have the opportunity to hit a November date,” he said.

Stewart felt November would be a good election for them.

“I would like this to really be judged on its merit and not get caught up on political issues that have nothing to do with it,” said Tom Murry, committee chair.

While in terms of just heading for a bond vote November is doable, Haines said in terms of capturing some of other funding options, that may throw a wrinkle into a November vote.

Other opportunities for elections are August or January.

Part of that will be determined by the site.

While they look at the initial study of each of the three sites, they will look at a checklist of items for each site.

“We really need to discover the facts about each site,” Haines said.

In their outline, step one includes meeting with the committee to determine current goals, determining hurdles that need to be addressed as they move forward and meeting with all of the entities that have ties to the stadium.

They also have a wish list of items which was compiled by Sandy Hull, the consultant hired to look at the project.

“Is there more in-depth analysis we need to be doing?” Haines asked. “Do we need to flesh that out a little more or is this set that these are the goals we want to be looking at?”

“Sandy (Hull) met with a number of the users of the facility and potential users and this basically became a wish list from their perspective,” Murry said. “It would probably also look a lot like a number of other communities in the past that built a football stadium.”

Committee member Chris Locke, USD 490 Board member, said he hoped the architects would want to meet with these groups that have an interest in the stadium.

“I think this would be one of the first things you want to do,” agreed Ted Albright, Butler Trustee and committee member. “You need to know what is desired to look at the sites.”

“If she (Hull) had a report from her efforts, that would be helpful,” Haines said.

“I think you’re looking at it,” Murry said of the wish list they had.

Albright asked if the committee agreed that these are the things they would want in a stadium.

One question Murry brought up was the amount of seating. He said he had a conversation with someone active in the football program who asked why they needed so many seats.

“I think it is a question the community is going to ask us as well,” Murry said.

“One argument could be if you’re going to go to this much trouble and expense, you don’t under build it. The question is: What is overbuilding it?”

He said the larger facility could be a plus in hosting Regional and larger events, which is something they can’t necessarily do if they stay at the same size as the current facility.

Albright also suggested they could build it so it could be expanded in the future.

“That was something we realized early on,” Stewart said. “How do we mitigate the difference between a Butler game and high school game. The high school could have record crowds and be 25 percent full. That’s going to be a struggle.”

The number of attendees also drives the need for parking requirements.

“That is something for us to get to early on,” Stewart said. “We’ll try to find some ways to mitigate full stadium days when you need overflow seating and low seating days when you want the stadium not to look barren.”

He said that is something they will be doing in step one.

In August they will start targeting the public, which is part of step two when they formally open a Main Street storefront.

Currently, the plan is to open a facility in the building next to J. Brian’s, providing information and answering questions. It is planned to be open in the morning coffee hours and evening as well as some days.

“It is an opportunity for people to come in and talk a little more one on one and ask questions they otherwise may not ask here in the district office or city hall,” Stewart said. “You also sort of take away the naysayers that say I wasn’t available for that district meeting. That excuse is going to be taken off the board.”

They would also develop a public survey and questionnaire, establish a Web site and message board, hold informational sessions, revise site plans and further refine and discover funding options.

“There’s a lot of work to do in that time frame,” Stewart said. “You are going to need to get organized early and stay organized to be efficient.”

He said they have to get the community to take ownership in the project.

The committee also will be looking to create a subcommittee to look at financing options, although this will be dependent upon the site. But in preparation, the committee members are going to start compiling a list of names for this subcommittee.

“There seems to be a lot of favorable support for a stadium project,” Murry said.

The group will meet again on June 11, tentatively, to look at the architects’ progress on several of the items in step one.