Earlier this school year, the Crookston School Board passed a referendum for a new Track & Athletic Complex for the Crookston High School. The decision to pursue a new Track & Athletic Complex came for a couple of reasons, one being that the School District could not come to an agreement with UMC on purchasing their field, as there was not a desire to make a deal at that time.
Crookston Public Schools Superintendent Jeremy Olson says the School District needs to own the complex to tap into funds they otherwise wouldn’t be able to use, which is part of the reason why they are pursuing building the new one. “We have to own the complex so we can tap into our Long Term Facility Maintenance (LTFM) dollars, which are meant to maintain buildings and facilities,” said Olson. “This would allow us down the road to use these dollars on the complex if something needs to be repaired or fixed because we will own it. So that was a big thing for us as a District.”
The date the School Board agreed on for the referendum is August 9, 2022. If the referendum is passed by the public, plans will move forward to start bidding the project out to contractors. The project’s estimated cost is $3.8 million, which could change as building costs increase/decrease. A portion of the project will be covered locally while some state funding will be included. It is uncertain at this time what the amounts will be.
After long discussions with a committee of public members, Olson said they were able to configure what they wanted the new complex to look like. “At the end of the conversations, we decided to go with a multi-use turf field because we will be able to get the most use out of that option with where we’re located,” said Olson. “We can have track and field, Softball, Soccer practices on a turf field, and we can get multiple uses out of it. We also decided on an 8-lane track rather than a 6-lane track because that gives us more flexibility with hosting tournaments, and we won’t have to deal with limitations we otherwise might have.”
The School District would also build a restroom facility for the new complex if the referendum is passed by using its CTE class as a way for those students to have a hand in building the project and showing their Pirate Pride. The School Board voted on having the referendum after agreeing there is a need for a new complex.
While it is uncertain right now how School District taxpayers will be affected if the referendum is passed, information will continue to be shared with the public as the School District receives it, and all the information will be before the public before the vote on August 9. “What the process is going to look like is that there will be an informational campaign,” said Olson. “It is our responsibility to inform the taxpayers and make sure they have accurate information. That information will actually start to come out in December. From there will have some public meetings where questions can be asked, and then in August will have the vote. If the vote is passed, we will award a bid to a contractor, and then we can start building the complex. It’s a long process, but we’re going to make sure we do this right and that people have accurate information.”
For the entire conversation with Superintendent Olson, you can tune in to KROX Saturday morning for the Focus on Education program at 8:15 a.m. before the Fertile-Beltrami State Football game. Olson also discussed a potential upcoming project for the School District that would be federally funded and reconfigure the High School into a High School and Middle School. The project would also build a preschool edition. You can listen on 105.7 FM, 1260 AM, or by clicking “Listen Live” at the top of this page.
