An oversized white board chronicles the accomplishments of Elton Goodwin’s tenure on the back of a chain-link fence behind the backstop.

But the Elton Goodwin Memorial Foundation board has proposed a much more grandiose entrance the field.

Joshua Sewell, a 1994 South Kitsap graduate who serves as the Elton Goodwin Memorial Foundation board advisor, said the 501(c) nonprofit charity received preliminary approval in February from South Kitsap School District’s board of directors to construct a “Sports Memorial Garden” at the field.

“We started talking about a way we could bring visibility through Elton’s legacy at the same time where we could clean up that area,” said Sewell, adding that the concept first was discussed about six months before it was presented to the school board. “It’s highly visible, but poorly maintained area.”

Sewell said the garden will resemble the “Victory Park” project created by the Chuck Semancik Foundation at Bremerton High School. The garden will honor the 65 team and individual championships the Wolves have earned in several sports since the high school was established in 1921.

“We are absolutely excited about the project,” South principal Jerry Holsten said. “The memorial garden will be a tremendous tribute that honors some truly deserving individuals. The foundation has done a phenomenal job connecting the past to the present and to the future in a way that all can be proud of and embrace.”

The gardens, which will be located behind the Elton Goodwin Memorial Field backstop, will contain 10 granite boulders with each representing a sport that has won a state championship. The names of coaches and athletes from individual and team championships will be engraved into bronze plaques that will rest on those boulders.

“The Goodwin family have been just amazing,” said Marcus Logue, who is entering his third season as the Wolves’ baseball coach. “I have been working with them a lot and they’ve spearheaded this whole project and put it together with input from myself and other people that are on the committee. I think it’s just going to be a beautiful thing. It’s time that we honor coach Goodwin in way that definitely resembles the effort and everything he put into not only coaching but being a great teacher and human being.”

Sewell said the foundation’s board also wanted to recognize Goodwin’s classroom contributions — he taught special education at the high school — with an 11th boulder that will feature the names of Special Olympians from South or throughout Kitsap County, who have earned regional or state recognition.

The plan to honor the school’s athletic legacy would not end with the boulders. The proposal includes an 1,800-square-foot pathway composed of maroon bricks that wind through the gardens. Sewell said the bricks, which are 8-by-4-inches and 8-by-8-inches, along with four granite park benches and two picnic tables, will be available for private dedication. The brick pathway also will include bronzed busts of some of the school’s most decorated coaches.

The Elton Goodwin Memorial Foundation will work with the Maynard Lundberg Foundation, which awards scholarships to graduating students, to honor Lundberg. A bronzed bust of Lundberg, who played, coached and taught at the high school, will be the centerpiece of the fountain.

“We couldn’t be more grateful for that partnership,” SKSD superintendent Michelle Reid said. “What an opportunity to honor so many amazing coaches and athletic directors — just role models — and the achievements of kids.”

Sewell said the final feature will be exclusive to the nearly 400 players who competed for Goodwin.

He guided the Wolves to three state championships and had a 491-136 record from 1976 to 2003. His 1996 team, which featured future major-league players Willie Bloomquist and Jason Ellison, went undefeated (23-0). Goodwin also won 17 Narrows League and two Olympic League titles during his tenure.

A 16-by-16-foot monument in the shape of a baseball field will be developed against a hillside in the center of the gardens. Each brick will be placed at the player’s position on the baseball diamond. A gray paver-stone inset, which will include the school’s crest in bronze, will run almost 100 feet through the gardens.

Bricks along the pathway will be priced at $50-$100, according to Sewell. He said the bricks within the Elton Goodwin Memorial will be $29 in honor of the coach’s retired number. No price has been set for the park benches and picnic tables.

Sewell said the Elton Goodwin Memorial Foundation has pledged that all proceeds received from this project will benefit students at the high school, either through an increase in the scholarship fund or through paying for future improvements to the athletic facilities on campus. Sewell, who works for a management consulting business, said sales of the bricks could generate $400,000 toward the foundation’s goals.

Sewell did not play baseball for the Wolves, but became part of the family when his mother married Goodwin’s brother, Arlond. He relocated to Hawaii several years before he returned to the area in October with an eye toward heading back.

“That is when the foundation started taking off,” Sewell said. “Given that I was back here for a time of critical growth, I decided to stay here for a while. It’s my way of giving back to Elton’s legacy.

Sewell said this is the first of several projects the foundation is contemplating. They also would like to construct a covered hitting facility for both the school’s baseball and fastpitch teams, as well as adding new scoreboards.

But first, Sewell said, they will begin pre-sales for the current project from April 1 to Aug. 1. Sewell said the latter date will mark the start of construction with a completion date targeted for Oct. 1.

Visit eltongoodwinfoundation.org/ for more information.