A decade-long vision has finally come to fruition for Washington athletics. While the ribbon has not yet been formally cut, the doors have opened for the school’s brand-new field house.

Athletic director Jon Blank started coaching at Washington 13 years ago. He remembers hearing rumblings of uilding a top-notch field house back then. As time passed with little forward progress made, it got to the point where some didn’t believe the dream would ever become a reality.

It took the teamwork of the staff at Washington, the school system, board of commissioners and booster club to finally get the project off the ground.

“Archie Jennings, Walker Lynch, Fred Watkins — they really pushed for this,” Blank said. “We saw a crack in the door to be able to get this thing rolling and, last April, we jumped all over it.”

The state of the art facility features all new weightlifting equipment, locker rooms, an office for coaches and more that will help propel Pam Pack athletics to the next level. It will be used mostly by the football team throughout the summer and fall, but is also open to any of Washington’s student-athletes.

“The athletics here have been, from all the coaches and all the sports, all the young men and women, have been doing really well,” football coach Sport Sawyer said. “It gives them a sense of pride. It’s not just for football. Everybody can use it. It gives them something to look at and be proud of.”

The feeling is that the new facility is a necessary step to building on all the success Washington athletics have experienced over the last number of years. In this past season alone, the Pam Pack earned at least a share of eight conference championships. Other teams like boys’ soccer, boys’ swimming and football have transcended local and regional competition to contend for state championships in the last two years.

“An upgrade to athletic facilities was a must,” Blank said. “We don’t have the land, we don’t have the space, we don’t have the resources to match up with the quality of our programs right now. We’re playing a big catch up game to get our facilities where our athletic program is.

“You have a lot of people in this community that have pride in Washington High School and the athletic program and what it means to be a part of the Pam Pack. I think when you start talking about projects like this that everybody can take pride in, it is easy to sell. The hard part is the financials. I guess we were just fortunate to make this happen at the right time.”

The Washington Athletic Club played a significant role in funding the field house. Blank said that, with the booster club’s contribution, the board of commissioners and board of education decided they were able to contribute a good portion of funds, too. That collaboration made it possible.

The field house is more than a facility where athletes can train and prepare for games. For the community, it’s the first thing fans see as they make their trek to Choppy Wagner Stadium for a football game.

“I wanted it to be the centerpiece of our outdoor facilities. I wanted it to be the focal point,” Blank said. “I wanted the teams to be able to come out of the front doors and into the stadium, kind of like a college entrance for teams.”

Of course, the facility will do wonders for helping each athlete physically excel. However, there’s also a mental aspect to it. Blank said that one of the only specific requests he had about the building was that it is aligned perfectly with the field-goal posts on the football field.

As the athletes are working out and preparing for their next game, they can look out the window and right on to the field.

“I knew it was important to get it facing right down the middle of the field because that’s where we do our real work,” he said. “We want our kids to have a purpose in everything they do when they train. When you look out there and you see the place that you play on Friday night — and, with some of our other sports, they play out there multiple nights — you have to take pride in what you do.”

Sawyer added, “You go to colleges and you see some of these (facilities). Sure, they’re bigger. But, for a high school, I don’t know too many high schools where you’re able to overlook your field while you’re working out. It’s a huge sense of pride.”

That pride is already palpable. Sawyer said that some of Washington’s former athletes home from college for the summer have seen the facility. While they didn’t have it at their disposal during their tenure with the Pam Pack, they helped make it possible.

“You helped build this,” Sawyer said. “This past senior class, my son was part of it. All of the guys before them helped build this because of how they acted in the classroom and how they acted in the community and how they acted on the field.”

The recurring theme in this project is pride — pride in the Washington community, the high school itself, Pam Pack athletics and so much more.

“You’ve got to take pride in what you do,” Blank said. “We take pride in our facilities. We’re already taking pride in our winning, our character, our academics, but now, this is one of the additional puzzle pieces that has become necessary.”