Gainesville Daily Register"On Feb. 13, members of the Muenster Independent School District Board of Trustees unanimously agreed to award Mount Pleasant-based Symmetry Turf Sports Field Construction an $863,000 contract to make improvements to the stadium’s football field, Superintendent Steven Self said. Board member Matt Sicking was absent, he said.
The contract includes transitioning the stadium’s grass field to AstroTurf, new goal posts, lettering and graphics and fixing any drainage issues the field has, according to Self.
“It’s unplayable,” Self said of the field’s current condition. “It’s in miserable shape. It’s unplayable for next year.”
He said construction should begin in April and wrap up in mid-July depending on weather.
“We’re still working on the contract,” Self said. “No money has exchanged hands yet.”
He said the district didn’t go out for bids but looked at several companies. Of the four who submitted quotes, Symmetry came in the lowest. The second lowest quote was “closer to” $900,000 from Hellas Construction.
The money to pay for the AstroTurf field is coming from the school district’s reserves, according to the superintendent.
Self said the Tyler Bluff Wind Farm did not meet a deadline for their contract and because of that, the wind farm was required to make a “substantial payment” to Muenster ISD.
He said between Tyler Bluff’s payment and a “settle up” with Wolf Ridge Wind Farm, the district has received around $2 million.
Revenue from the wind farms has been beneficial to the school district.
“They would not have been able to build the elementary school,” Self said. “It gave enough tax base to be able to do those things without just destroying the local taxpayer. It’s been a big benefit to this district because they have been able to replace the old elementary school, the old junior high and the old gym that was here.”
District officials began talking about what they were going to do to with the stadium’s field last summer.
“One of the main problems with the field that we’ve got now is the drainage is so bad,” Self said. “So, to redo that field and do it right, the prices we were getting were between $250,000 to $400,000.”
The last time the field was repaired was about eight years ago, according to Self.
“But when they did it, they didn’t address the drainage on it,” he said.
Self said the district looked into a turf field as an alternative and officials began talking with turf companies before Christmas.
“The reason for that as an alternative is that the kids could use the field a whole lot more,” Self said. “And it would be not just the high school, but the elementary if there is bad weather … More kids at more age levels would get the benefit because Brady [Carney], the athletic director, can’t let kids on the natural field during the season just because of the damage they can do to the field when you get a lot of little kids. Evidently, from what we’ve seen and researched, they will do very little damage to a turf field.”
He said the stadium’s turf field wouldn’t be used to play baseball and softball games, but it could be used for practice if needed.
Self said the field would also be open to the community for peewee sports.
“We’re very limited with practice fields for the younger kids,” he said.
The life expectancy of a turf field and a natural field are about the same, according to Self. Symmetry’s contract comes with an eight-year guarantee.
“We’re looking at least eight years and hopefully 12 to 15 years,” Self said. “But, you know, it’s one of those things you don’t know for sure. Cost wise, it’s still more expensive than going with natural sod, but because of this drainage work that would have to be done to make it last longer and not have to go in and redo the turf soil again, this was a time when, if you’re going to turf it, it looked like the best time to do it because they were going to have to do the work anyway.”
There are 502 students enrolled at Muenster ISD with an average daily attendance of 475 students, school officials said.
“I think it’s a good thing. It’s a big investment and it will have to be replaced and fixed just like the field now, but when you look at usability compared to the field now, there’s really no comparison,” Self said. “It’s a good thing for the community.”