Two local businesses agree to sponsor stadium scoreboards
By SCOTT POWELL Ledger Staff Writer spowell@gaffneyledger.com

The lighted First Piedmont Federal sign will be on the back side of a scoreboard that will face the main parking lot.

First Piedmont Federal Savings & Loan and Cherokee Masonry have signed on as new sponsors of electronic scoreboards planned for the new Gaffney High football stadium.

They join the Gaffney Board of Public Works as the three sponsors that have made financial commitments to help pay for the giant scoreboards, Gaffney High football booster club president Don Bridges said Thursday. The Board of Public Works pledged $150,000 towards the cost of the scoreboard in August.

Bridges declined to reveal the amounts given by First Piedmont and Cherokee Masonry, citing their status as private corporations. The booster club is still talking with other prospective sponsors. Plans call for two scoreboards at the new stadium, one at each end of the field, with one of them having an 'instant replay' screen. The projected cost for both boards is $600,000.

Cherokee Masonry has been added as a sponsor to the scoreboard facing the football playing field. The lighted First Piedmont sign will be installed on the back side of the scoreboard facing the stadium entrance and main parking lot.

"The main scoreboard at the Gaffney High stadium will be like a big television with video replay capability. It will be 18 feet long and 15 feet tall, similar in size to the jumbotron at the Byrnes High football stadium," Bridges said. "Gaffney High will have a state-of-theart stadium. When the stadium and a new track are finished, I think we will have one of the finest high school sports complexes in South Carolina and the Southeast."

The football booster club is well on its way to paying for the main scoreboard and needs to have the fundraising completed for the project by February, the same time Cynergi Systems of Duncan will begin construction on the scoreboards. Cherokee Masonry will donate the labor and materials to build the brick foundation that will support the main scoreboard.

"The company that will design and build the scoreboards has given us a drop dead date of Feb. 15 for ordering the material," Bridges said. "In speaking with company representatives, they need to order the scoreboards in February so they can be installed in June."

Extensive testing will be done to make sure the giant scoreboards are operational when the football season starts, Bridges said.

"By ordering the scoreboards in February, this will allow us plenty of time to make sure the scoreboards are ready for the football season," Bridges said. "The stadium will be an impressive facility that the entire community will be proud of once it is completed."