At their regular monthly meeting Monday evening, the Enterprise School Board learned about plans for an indoor sports facility at Jensen Field and received a $40,000 check from the Enterprise Education Foundation.

Enterprise Education Foundation president Cindi Aschenbrenner presented the check. “This year we want to support several worthwhile projects,” Aschenbrenner said. “So we want to allocate $20,000 to K-8 playground improvements, $10,000 for the arts, and $10,000 for K-12 support.”

FCCLA members Kasey Duncan, Jackson Decker and Claire Farwell presented the rationale for the planned 75’x115’ Indoor Athletic Center that will include batting cages to allow early spring high school softball and baseball practice, soccer drills and tennis practice. The facility still in the planning stage will be open to the public, and available to all schools in the county. “The reason this is important,” said Farwell, “is that in the early spring, all our practice fields are covered with snow. Last year our parents had to plow the baseball and softball diamonds so we could practice.” The estimated $375,000 cost of the proposed facility will be covered by a $250,000 ORPD grant and $125,000 matching from the Wallowa County Athletic Assn. Normally, OSPRD only awards funds for outdoor improvements, but, Duncan said, the FCCLA and WCAN made a convincing case that in Wallowa County’s cold, snowbound winters, athletes in spring sports, especially, needed a warmer and drier place to prepare for competition, and many residents just needed a place to exercise.

In other business, the board confirmed that they have submitted a letter of intent to apply for a $4 million grant from the state to match a future bond for school facilities repairs and improvements. They also heard reassuring words from superintendent Erika Pinkerton about the school’s precautions, preparations, and readiness to address any corona virus issues that might arise, and learned that Enterprise’s February K-8 attendance was a very healthy 94.6% and high school attendance was 93.4%, well above the state’s required attendance rate.