The Board of Education for the Solon Community School District met March 10 to discuss what to name the district’s new indoor activities facility, opening in late January 2027.
While Superintendent Davis Eidahl’s recommendation was to name the facility the “Spartan Field House,” other board members voiced some concern.
School Board Vice President Tim Brown said the name could cause confusion.
“When you say, ‘field house’ in Solon, you’re not going to think about an indoor facility as the first thing you can think of,” he said.
Brown alluded to the Fieldhouse Bar and Grill, an Iowa City bar, which in recent months has been featured in a series of local news articles regarding the establishment’s new location, as well as various updates on the establishment’s liquor license.
“I just don’t think we should name a school facility the same name as a bar,” said Brown.
Board President Dan Coons debated his fellow board member, saying that while it was unfortunate a bar in the Iowa City area shares the same name, that a name following the nomenclature of the district’s football field, the “Spartan Stadium,” could indicate that the “Spartan Field House” name would be a good fit.
Brown also said that while the term “field house” assumes traits like a pool or a weight room, the district’s new facility and its lack of these amenities could be misleading.
“There’s a mismatch between what we’re going to do in there and what the name implies,” Brown said.
“It does house the field,” Coons replied.
The board then opened it up to their student representatives, Parker Beck and Piper Johnson, for comment. Beck agreed with Brown, after joking the facility should be named “Parker’s Playhouse,” causing laughter among the other board members. Board member Cassie Rochholz raised the idea of a student survey, giving the kids a choice on what to call their new building.
The board made no official decision on a name during their meeting.
The facility, constructed immediately northwest of Solon Middle School, “addresses a significant shortage of indoor space within the district, which has created challenges in scheduling co-curricular and extracurricular activities,” according to the district’s request for qualifications form for the building.
The project has been years in the making since the Solon School District voted to pass a $25 million bond referendum in March 2023. The referendum allowed the district to expand various facilities such as the Solon Intermediate School, replacing the turf in the Spartan Stadium, and this indoor facility.
The district is currently awaiting Submissions of Qualifications from subcontractors in the area that would bid on building the facility, with a planned start date of April 2026 and an estimated period of construction of 10 months.
Mitchell Brinkmeyer is a student in the UI Community News class.