GHS to install turf, revamp worn track

Thursday, June 3, 2021
Artist’s rendering shows the proposed layout of the football field and soccer pitch on the artificial surface set to be installed at Greencastle High School’s Harbison Stadium.
Courtesy photo

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.”

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  • ‘No impact on local tax rate’ is a false statement. It would have went DOWN without this project. Complete lack of fiduciary responsibility and business sense from the board.

    -- Posted by taylortwp on Thu, Jun 3, 2021, at 7:44 PM
  • “In the first place God made idiots. This was for practice. Then he made school boards.“

    Mark Twain

    -- Posted by agatha on Thu, Jun 3, 2021, at 9:06 PM
  • The comments on this post are written by folks who voted FOR the competitive environment that created it.

    -- Posted by Donovan Wheeler on Thu, Jun 3, 2021, at 10:45 PM
  • A walkway is what it implies. Possibly a covered structure to het from A to B without being exposed to the elements. It does not imply additional gyms and locker rooms. This is a building project to fulfill someones wish list at taxpayer expense. 32 million dollars worth. We had the opportunity some years ago to have the football field turfed, but the soccer parents, who apparently wield much clout, did not want their kids playing on turf so the school spent nearly 750K on their playing space. Now we spend 1.5 million on a football field and a new track. We can't host any post season track events because our track is situated the wrong way. If we were talking about a college athletic campus, I might understand, as this would be a powerful recruiting tool. Do we expect a large influx of premiere athletes from other schools to bolster our mostly average athletic squads and thereby increasing ticket revenue? What about kids that play baseball and softball that do not drive? Will we bus them to practice and games, or is there a plan to install an airport like people mover between the 2 locations? Academics continue to take a back seat to athletics, even though there were no specific plans mentioned about STEM spending other than a re-do of science areas. You can put lipstick on a pig and it's still a pig. Let's focus on our kid's education and preparing them for the workforce. Get back to basics with reading, math and science and career training.

    -- Posted by Vernie1 on Fri, Jun 4, 2021, at 12:10 PM
  • It's interesting that Greencastle is putting in turf when it's being replaced in many places because the injury is something like 58% higher for lower extremities on turf than natural grass. Turf is just a maintenance convenience and versatility push by administration and less about how good it is for players. National toxicology programs reports higher number of blood cancer patients from playing on turf and that those treated with biocides have a higher rate of MRSA infections. Then you have the fact that's about 140 degrees to 170 degrees surface temperature on an 85 degree day so you get turf burns. FIFA announced that in 2023 the Women's world cup will only be played on natural grass. In a survey of FIFA soccer players most had a hard no to signing to a team with a turf field, and also the NFL Players Association asked for a ban on turf fields and to turn them back to natural grass. Seems like a big waste of money "to look good" and not have to worry about rain, when it could be harmful to the actual players.

    -- Posted by greencastleparent on Fri, Jun 4, 2021, at 5:41 PM
  • Groupthink:

    So turf has to be replaced every so often?

    Built in future costs? Who wants to look at a worn out rug?

    Not my problem. I'm outta here.

    This is what you do when you can't bear to let people and their business's keep more of their own tax dollars for what they need.

    Aren't we past all of the appearance of everything looks fine. We must be doing a bang-up job on the inside!

    Your betters have all the answers for you, don't you know.

    -- Posted by direstraits on Sat, Jun 5, 2021, at 7:16 AM
  • I just love how we can make improvements (although some are desperately needed) while not filling teaching and school nurse positions when people leave or retire. I am sure it’s from a different fund but it still seems illogical.

    -- Posted by Moretothestory on Sun, Jun 6, 2021, at 11:47 AM
  • Now that the school year is finished, hopefully GMS principal Scott Weltz will finally take down that silly statement he put on the homepage of the middle school's website.

    The one where he talks about how parents keep telling him they're "so sorry" for him (because you know how terrible middle schoolers are, LOL) but despite this, he actually enjoys his job! Haha so funny... except he's the principal, and he put it on the school website.... so maybe not so funny.

    He then blesses us with his wisdom on how to be a parent, with analogies such as “middle school is like a roller coaster for your kids, and you are the seat belt.” Translation: watch your kids! Wow. Brilliant advice, thank you for that. You must be constantly getting hounded by parents dealing with their awful kids, and feel it's necessary to enlighten us.

    It also includes some egostistical comments about his job experience, and even more advice on how to parent your kids. It ain't about you, Mr. Weltz! My advice for you, is to save the patronizing comments for your private social media, not the school homepage, thank you.  

    -- Posted by Raker on Tue, Jun 8, 2021, at 4:07 PM
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