On Monday, the school board updated facility and grounds use fees effective January 1, 2010.

Assistant Superintendent Thomas Van Soelen points to the last item on the school board’s agenda for an answer to the question, “How much did the Tennesee Volunteers pay the Decatur school system for use of the DHS field?”

An attachment included with the item gives the breakdown of fees to rent DHS stadium…

Field/Stadium Usage Fees

• $200 per hour without scoreboard use
• $250 per hour with scoreboard use Minimum: $200 Maximum: $2,500 per day (12 hours per day) Maximum: $15,000 per week (12 hours per day, seven days)
• $75 per hour for field lights in addition to field use fee
• $225 for each lining of the field in addition to field use fee

Van Soelen states “Tennessee was charged nearly that amount…”

And for those of us with grand plans of renting out the new auditorium for non-school events, check out auditorium rental fees after the jump…

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Must be a pretty darn nice field to play on.

This morning’s AJC reports on an unexpected (?) perk of the new DHS stadium.

Bowl officials helped Tennessee pick Decatur as a practice site over Georgia Tech and Clark Atlanta after the Vols (7-5) were selected to play in the New Year’s Eve game against Virginia Tech.

…“We came down for an inspection, and [Decatur High] was the option that suited us best,” travel coordinator David Elliott said. “We were looking for a surface similar to that of the Georgia Dome and this was the best fit.”

…“It’s a very exciting time, not only for our school but for the City of Decatur,” [Decatur athletics director Carter] Wilson said. “It shows that other people think highly of our facilities, as we do. We look forward to a long relationship with the Chick-Fil-A Bowl.”

h/t: InDecatur

P.S.  TheDNO posted some photos of Saturday’s practice on Flickr.

P.P.S. Here’s InDecatur’s report, with an extensive photo montage, from the Vol’s weekend practice.