This month, the West Liberty Community School District and West Liberty Athletic Booster Club held the first of what is expected to be a new twice-a-year fundraiser, giving students, alumni, and families a chance to be part of the district’s new athletic complex through purchasing a personalized brick.
For $100, each 4 x 8-inch brick allows for three lines of personalized text, which can include any name, statement (birthday, graduation, etc.), or quote that can fit within a three-line (20 characters per line) limit. Anyone who purchases an engraved brick can also purchase a 3 x 1.5-inch mini replica brick for an additional $20. Money raised through the brick fundraiser will be put towards supporting West Liberty’s athletic programs.
Athletics Director Adam Loria said he and the Booster Club were inspired by the idea of the new athletic complex itself. “We thought we had a perfect spot to recognize more supporters – to allow for people to have a permanent mark on what they did here, whether it’s a family or an individual.”
The Booster Club also plans to make it an ongoing fundraiser every year, Loria said. “It can get about as big as we want it to get,” he said. “We have a spot picked out that we’re going to put the bricks, and if we fill that spot out, we’ll make the spot bigger.”
Looking at the numbers for the January fundraiser, a little over 20 bricks were ordered, making for an estimated profit of $1,700. Most of the funds from this initial run will go towards the brick installation and building the foundation base for the bricks.
“I think once people see them, they’ll maybe have a better understanding of what we’re trying to do and where we’re going to put it, and then hopefully for our summer order at the end of June we’ll be able to place another big order and we’ll just keep doing that twice each year,” Loria said.
As important as the fundraising part is for helping with the needs of the athletic department without being forced to raise ticket prices to offset these costs, Loria said the main point of the bricks was to give anyone connected with West Liberty student athletics the opportunity to “leave their mark” on a facility that will further the athletic endeavors of current and future students for years to come.
“It’s really one of those things we hope grows every year, and we’ve got the perfect spot for it in a place where everyone’s going to walk by and see it,” Loria said. “We’re excited to see how this project goes.”
With the outdoors portion of the athletics complex being nearly complete, the department will be shifting its focus to planning and designing the indoors facility with the assistance of OPN Architects. “It’ll be a long process, but we only get to do this once, so we want to do it right,” Loria said.
The design phase expected to be completed in fall 2025. Once the project goes out to bid, construction will likely start in late fall or early winter. Should there be no major delays involving labor or materials, Loria said he hopes to have the indoor facilities open by the end of the 2026 calendar year.
“We appreciate and acknowledge the support we’ve gotten for this entire project – not just from donors, but from people who know and appreciate why this project was needed,” Loria said. “There’s just so many aspects of it that benefit everybody, and it’s going to benefit our community for so long. I don’t think we can thank our community and our stakeholders enough for supporting us.”
Those wanting to order a personalized brick this summer can do so online at fundraisingbrick.com/westliberty
Residents can also pay for their brick by check through mailing their completed order form and check to West Liberty Athletic Booster Club c/o Adam Loria, 1103 N Elm St. #228, West Liberty, IA 52776. Checks should be made payable to the West Liberty Athletic Booster Club.