Board of Education Approves New Tracks and Turfs

The SMSD Board of Education approved a contract Nov. 27 with ACI Boland, Inc. to remove and replace turf fields and tracks at East, South and Northwest.

“The condition of the current turf is pretty rough in some spots ever since that huge storm we had, so I think it is great that we are getting new turf,” senior boys varsity lacrosse player Cameron Ream said. “There were lots of rolls and collections of turfs pellets that could easily trip a player.”

The turf fields inside the tracks at the three high schools will be redone as well as the tracks at South and Northwest. Bob Robinson, SMSD Executive Director of Facilities, reported at the Nov. 27 board meeting that the current turf fields are 10-12 years old, and the “life cycle” of a turf field is typically eight to 12 years.

Athletic director Debbie Katzfey said East’s turf is in “bad shape.” The school has had to repair a  rip in the center of the turf at least three times since she started working at East last year. However, SMSD Director of Athletics and Student Services Richard Kramer said that the replacement of the fields is routine maintenance.

“We haven’t taken any large complaints that the fields are unsafe or it’s not in playing condition,” Kramer said. “We’ve had to do some resewing on the fields but nothing of any major issue that would keep us from using the fields.”

The projects at the high schools will cost an estimated $1,559,589 – paid for by a bond with a provision for middle and high school facility reinvestment.

Construction is scheduled to begin Dec. 15 at South and East and be completed sometime in the spring, while Northwest will see no change until June 1 with completion occurring the following fall.

While construction is underway, East teams will relocate to the upper turf fields used by baseball, open grassy areas or Indian Hills Middle School for practices, Katzfeysaid.

The board also approved the construction of two or three new turf fields at the SMSD Soccer Complex, though no purchase agreement was approved at the Nov. 27 meeting like those regarding the three high school renovations. Robinson indicated he hoped to present about the soccer complex project at the next board meeting.

According to Kramer, precedent set by nearby districts, including the all-turf College Boulevard Activities Center and Olathe District Athletic Complex, initiated the change to using turf fields.

“I think the warrant is to get us up to a facility caliber that is comparable to other districts around us so that our facilities can be kept in a competitive frame with our neighbors BV and Olathe,” Kramer said.