1of3Nearing completion, new signage for Memorial Stadium can be seen on the Beaumont Independent School District's football stadium. The signage came after a three-year long debate to change the name from the Carrol A. "Butch" Thomas Educational Support Center. The name, Memorial Stadium, was chosen to reflect several schools in the district's history. Photo taken Monday, 1/7/19Guiseppe Barranco/The Enterprise, Photo Editor

A portion of Beaumont ISD's stadium will now be branded with "Doggett Toyota."

The Beaumont ISD school board on Thursday voted 6-1 to approve a $1.1 million bid from Houston-based heavy equipment distributor Doggett Equipment Services Group. Board Vice President and District 3 Trustee Woodrow Reece, II, was the only vote against.

The bid package includes both sides of the stadium's press box and the illuminated marquee sign. Under the agreement, the company will pay $110,00 annually over 10 years for the package.

Board Secretary and District 2 Trustee Stacey Lewis, Jr. said the district will retain the name of Beaumont ISD Memorial Stadium on the facility.

"We want to make sure that we have something that's on the freeway that is beautiful and that we're all proud of," Lewis said at the meeting. "And this right here is going to continue to make sure that our legacy in terms of Beaumont ISD continues to move forward."

Reece said the district's facilities should be named after local administrators or local entities, not "out-of-town" companies or people.

"It doesn't sit well with me," he said.

District Superintendent Shannon Allen said funds from the deal will go toward maintaining the stadium, including potentially replacing the scoreboard, which is more than a decade old.

The vote on the bid was initially slated for the April 20 meeting, but the board voted to table it until May.

Doggett has steadily increased its presence in Beaumont after purchasing Kinsel Motors earlier this year and now overseeing its four vehicle dealerships.

"We are excited to expand our footprint in the Beaumont community and to participate as a sponsor to Beaumont ISD," Doggett Chief Executive Officer Leslie Doggett said in the company's March 27 bid proposal.

This is the first bid made public since the district last updated its naming rights packages in January. The window for bidding closed March 31.

Other packages approved by the school board were for for the playing field; field houses; entry gates and the stadium's score board; and ranged from $150,000 to $1 million, depending on contract term length.

District Chief Financial Officer Cheryl Hernandez said at the meeting it was the only offer after the bid packages were released the most recent time.

Hernandez said the district did actively solicit sponsors, but only Doggett responded.

After the vote, the school board voted to reorganize its officers with Trustee Tillie Hickman being elected president, Lewis being elected Vice President and Trustee Denise Wallace-Spooner as secretary.