RIPON – Part of the renovations and upgrades at Stouffer Field will include a state-of-the-art electronic scoreboard.

This part of the project was made possible by a sizable donation from Pacific Gas & Electric to the Ripon Community Athletic Foundation.

“It was paid in full,” said RCAF president Stephanie Hobbs at last Monday’s Ripon Unified school board meeting.

Trustees, in order to pave the way, adopted a resolution, in turn, rendering local zoning ordinances inapplicable to the Ripon High stadium site.

By that, they agreed not to sell advertising of any type on the scoreboard and, under the direction of Superintendent Louise Johnson, set up an advisory panel made up of two RUSD representatives, one RCAF representative (Hobbs), and one community at-large representative.

“We have taken on the responsibility of the scoreboard on the school site,” Trustee Kit Oase said.

The group would be in charge of developing present and future guidelines for the part of the scoreboard facing travelers along Highway 99.

The advisory panel was the byproduct of a two-by-two committee consisting of board members Donna Parks and Oase, and Ripon Mayor Elden ‘Red’ Nutt and Councilman Charlie Gay. They met earlier to discuss the resolution, including the city’s concerns.

Plans call for the scoreboard to face west of the football field, with the signage to include the school name and mascot, team logo, period of play, downs, etc.

The back of the scoreboard is to face east and will display the names of those donors contributing to stadium-improvement project and flashing notices of RUSD events and accomplishments.

RCAF’s efforts to improve the stadium at RHS began five years ago, according to Hobbs. “The facility is used by the entire community,” she noted.

Phase I of the project broke ground about a month ago. Work includes underground installation of the drainage system, fencing, and making Stouffer Field accessible to the physically handicapped.

Plans for Phase II will consist of the installation of the all-weather synthetic track.