Showalter track now open for public use

It’s a new day and a new look for Showalter Stadium.

After about five months of renovations were completed in late October, the redone Bob Mosher Track at Winter Park High School is now open for the first time to the general public.

Taking over the stadium last year, the city of Winter Park decided to perform upgrades to get the facility back into shape to attract more athletic events and allow for recreational use.

The first stage featured removing and replacing the concrete track that encompasses the field with a new rubber track, which is much more forgiving on the body. The new rubberized track cost $380,000.

“Now that we kind of have it back in place, we want to go back and enhance the service,” said Ronnie Moore, assistant director of the Winter Park Parks and Recreation Department. “When the school had it, it was primarily for the school. With it being a city facility, we have tried to enhance it where some of the youth groups can use the stadium for games and some of the community activities can take place there.”

Along with the new track, a professional-grade turf field replaced the traditional grass field that had been used. Although the cost may seem large at $900,000, the field is efficient because it requires less maintenance. Furthermore, it is a safer playing surface for athletes. 

The last addition of this initial stage is an upgraded high-tech scoreboard that features a video screen, which cost $170,000.

All the funding for the different pieces at Showalter were provided from a collaboration between the city of Winter Park, Orange County Public Schools, Rollins College (for the turf field) and the Winter Park High School Foundation.

Getting the new track set up and going after taking control of the facility became a big priority for Moore and the Parks and Recreation staff.

The biggest problem that was leftover from when the school ran it was that there was no staff to oversee the track’s usage, which led to a lot of issues. To fix the situation, the City created the membership program to oversee who uses the facility.

Once the issues of safety and upkeep were managed, the next step was to address track coaches and trainers who wanted to operate business at Showalter. To organize instructors, the city requires those interested to pay a fee of $50 per month or $500 annually. 

With everything set in place for both track and other sports such as lacrosse, football, and soccer, Moore is excited about the future of not only bringing in bigger sporting events but also what an open track can do for the community.

“For 20 years, the state track meet was here, where everybody from this area could come out and see the best talent, so we are looking to bring it back to a community facility where all can use and enjoy and appreciate,” Moore said. 

Contact Troy Herring at 

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