GHS to install turf, revamp worn track
Joining fellow WIC foes Edgewood and Northview, Greencastle High School will be installing a new artificial turf surface at Harbison Stadium this summer.
The Greencastle School Board approved a $1,554,196 bid from Motz Group to resurface the track and install a new artificial turf surface for the football field, which will now become a multi-use field with markings for soccer as well.
Part of a larger building plan for GCSC, the improvements to the track and turf at the stadium are partly a matter of timing, Superintendent Jeff Gibboney explained.
“The track is in bad shape and we have the opportunity to do it now,” Gibboney told the Banner Graphic, noting that if the improvements were put off until 2022, the GHS track teams would not be able to host any meets next season. “It’s going to be great for our school and community.”
While GCSC is working with krM Architecture for its larger building program, Fred Prazeau of landscape architecture firm Context Design presented the various bids to the school board.
“The current conditions are pretty suspect,” Prazeau said. “The track has been resurfaced several times and it’s at the end of its useful life.”
As for the field, the artificial turf opens the stadium up to further use without the worry of tearing up the grass, as with a grass field. The GHS soccer teams will now have the option of playing home matches on grass at Dee Monnett Field or on turf at Harbison Stadium.
The turf itself will come with a 10-year warranty, while the shock pad underneath it, which softens the blow when players are tackled on the field, will have a 20-year warranty.
The field should also be able to handle whatever precipitation Mother Nature throws its way.
“It drains very well — 16 inches of water an hour, if you want to think about that,” Prazeau said.
The field is currently set for completion by Sept. 1 — in time for the Tiger Cubs’ football home opener on Sept. 3 — while the track should be completed by Oct. 1.
The other bids received were $1,494,599 from Astroturf and $1,517,670 from Sprinturf. FieldTurf declined to submit a bid.
Prazeau reminded the board that the goal in a competitive bid process is not to automatically get the lowest bid, but the best value. He recommended Motz Group, as his firm has found them to be the most reliable of the bidders in all aspects of such a process.
Gibboney said he also called around to various other schools and got the best feedback on Motz.
Aside from Northview, Edgewood and WIC member Owen Valley, which is also adding turf this fall, other area high schools with artificial surfaces include Cascade, Danville and Southmont. DePauw University installed artificial turf at Blackstock Stadium in 2013.
Board member Brian Cox made the motion to go with the Motz Group, which was seconded by Russell Harvey.
The motion received unanimous approval.
While the Harbison Stadium improvements represent a major project, they only represent the first piece of a much larger puzzle.
GCSC is on the verge of a $32 million bond sale that will fund improvements at all five school buildings. The bonds will replace debt the corporation already had and will therefore have no impact on the local tax rate.
Back in January, krM unveiled a GCSC facilities master plan that officials looked upon as a “wish list” as much as anything, as the total estimated price tag at the time was $48.8 million.
“Until you study and work on it and prioritize,” Gibboney said, “you can’t plan.”
The corporation is now well into this planning phase, trying to figure out how far $32 million can go toward improvements. While the costs of construction materials are currently very high, interest rates remain favorable.
“We obviously want to do as many of these things as we can,” Gibboney said.
Topping the list of needs for the facilities are security measures as well as improvements to various areas at Greencastle High School and Greencastle Middle School, most notably the science labs.
The most visible of the security improvements is set to be an enclosed walkway between Greencastle High School and McAnally Center, which is utilized for both physical education and performing arts purposes.
As for the main entrances to the various schools, Gibboney noted that the high school is the only of the five school buildings in which guests must enter through the office to gain access to the school hallways and even it could use entryway improvements.
All five schools will receive an upgrade in this critical area.
The science labs and other decades-old aspects at GHS, such as the restrooms and flooring, will also get special attention. The library/media center will also receive an upgrade to reflect the changing nature of collaboration and methods of learning in the 21st century.
“It will make it more enticing and an integrated part of the school,” Gibboney said.
The walkway between McAnally and the high school will also allow for upgrades to the P.E. and athletics facilities, such as additional auxiliary gyms, new and expanded rooms for both wrestling and weightlifting and expanded and upgraded locker rooms.
The locker rooms in particular need attention, as girls’ varsity sports were not yet a reality when McAnally was completed more than 50 years ago.
The connection between the two buildings will also change the access to the back part of the GHS/McAnally property, which is likely to prompt a move of the baseball and softball diamonds to the same grounds as the Dan Green Transportation Center, south of Veterans Memorial Highway.
Gibboney emphasized, however, that the corporation is not trying to rush into anything. A bond sale will come later this summer and the first of the work won’t go to bid until this fall.
“We’re a long way from construction blueprints,” Gibboney said.
During the meeting, the board also approved a number of resolutions relating to the project, including determining the need for the project, reapproving the GCSC Building Corporation, approving an amendment to the lease and awarding construction bids and contracts to the Building Corporation, once received.
“All four of these resolutions are the next legal step to the building project,” Gibboney told the board and audience.
In the meantime, the administration and architects continue to engage with staff and other stakeholders on how the upgrades should look and function.
“This is going to transform Greencastle,” Gibboney said. “We already have great teaching and learning. This will allow our physical space to catch up to that.”