The Crookston Public School District held a public Community meeting on Wednesday night in the Crookston High School Auditorium to hold the third of four meetings about the multiuse Complex stadium that is planned to begin construction during the 2022-23 School Year.
Interim Superintendent Dave Kuehn began the meeting with a bit of history of the project, saying that the school wished to add a multiuse complex to the back of the high school and that even back in the school’s beginnings, the school never owned a proper stadium. Students and parents would have to walk up a dirt path to a field called Lincoln Field. It wasn’t until nearly 20 years after its conception that the high school began a partnership with the University of Minnesota-Crookston to use their stadiums and fields instead. But over time, the college stopped using and maintaining their football field and track, which caused issues for the high school teams, but they cannot fix the problems with the school’s money due to it not being their property.
So they have to create their own multiuse facility to hold their own sporting events and practices while keeping the students safe from the unmaintained fields and track. The school has been given Long-term Facility Maintenance (LTFM) funds, but if they wanted to pay for other upgrades, they would have to use general funds, which go to more student curriculum-related activities like classes and in-school clubs. He explained that the facility would give broader opportunities and benefits for students and community members with new outdoor learning and instructional space, and the close proximity to the High School would allow for groups like the football and soccer teams, the marching band, and Phys Ed class to use the turf for various activities, school sports games, and events.
The original proposal was for $3,915,000 for all its construction and would be the price on the ballot that the public voted for on August 9. He then invited John Holten of Zerr Berg Architects, one of the architects for the pre-referendum work, to speak more about the construction costs. He explained that they were aware that construction costs have been escalating but explained that they have a contingency, where they look at design options and take off alternative designs for certain items if they raise the price over the planned budget. “What we’ll do for almost all project construction nowadays is ask the stakeholders, the district, the community for alternates. Things that we would like to have, but if it’s things that can’t be afforded, it would be things that we would not accept,” Holten explained. “So, if you think about your house, you might put in a kitchen countertop, you may go with a laminate countertop, but the alternative might be granite, and if you have the money available, sure we’ll take the better product or the additional cabinetry. It’s very much the same on the field. If the money’s available, we’ll do everything. If it’s not, we have cheaper options or things we can cut.” While he didn’t have a solid list of what they would change or cut, some of his ideas were omitting the east side of the security fence surrounding the field or using a thinner track surface for the 8-lane track. When asked about a timeline for how long it would take to complete its construction, Holten explained that they anticipated that they would begin designing it over the winter to work through the construction documents, finalize its size and design, and start taking bids in January or February 2023. Once they would secure the contractors for it, the school would begin construction in the summer of 2023 and occupancy on the field by the fall of 2023.
They then opened the meeting to the audience for any questions they had about the referendum. One audience member asked about serious issues that have been brought up with that turf fields last about 10 years, but what would happen when the 10 years are up, and what would the costs be when it had to be replaced. Superintendent Kuehn answered that with the Long-term Facility Maintenance funds they could replace the turf and upgrade the facility in any way they needed to. John Holten explained that the turf would be maintained annually and when it would be replaced in 2033-34, the rubber mulch would be taken out and the rug underneath, and the new turf would be installed, and some of the fill can be salvaged and saved for another use. When asked about how much the process would cost, they reported, based on a quote they had received from a turf manufacturer who worked on a field in Fargo, that replacing it would only cost about $250,000 for the new material and the price will be different in 10 years but will be much less than installing the entire field.
One audience member brought up some concerns they had with injuries, particularly to the head with concussions on turf fields. Holten replied that they have found that turf fields have been easier on lower body and leg injuries due to the field being softer than natural grass. But had not heard anything about them causing more concussions and would look more into the research about it. When asked if the school had a machine or staff member to maintain the turf and how much it would cost. Kuehn and Holten explained that they could use the Capital Fund dollars to purchase a turf machine and have a contractor come in to do some general maintenance during the year. Holten also mentioned that the field would be ready quicker in weather due to not having to deal with mud and rain puddles.
An audience member then noted that the school’s CTE class would be working on the bathrooms and concessions area to work on their studies and help the school save up to $400,000 on its construction and asked what they would be doing in its construction. Superintendent Kuehn explained that the class would be working on it, similar to how they had done construction projects on houses, but they wouldn’t work on specific tasks like electricity, plumbing, and other tasks that required licenses.
Kuehn then brought forward Activities Director Nate Lubarski to talk about the information about turf fields. He mentioned that it can hold associated softball games on the turf and baseball practices on it, and even for other teams around the area looking for a field. He gave a comparison to Moorhead Public School’s Turf, which is used for about 67 games and 90 practices a year with PE Class out on it nearly 7 hours a day during the fall and then had it ready for a JV and Varsity game later in the day. He then listed that they used theirs for nearly 10-15 hours each day, saying that with this field and the lights around the field, they can fit in more events, games, and practices all in one day rather than have to find different fields or rotate practices. He mentioned that they’ve been holding their home track meets over the past five years at East Grand Forks High School and have started to have to pay a rent of $500 per meet. And the football field at UMC has not been maintained in a long time, and it has been very difficult to play and practice there.
When asked about what they would do in the case of money if they didn’t have enough in the funds to cover the bids, Kuehn explained that he felt confident that there would be some community contributions from local businesses with sponsorships and fundraisers that the school could use to help fill the gap. “There might be, based on the bids, we hope they come in favorable, but if they do come in a little higher, the district will have to put a plan in place. That could include a variety of revenue streams from possible district funds, to rental funds to other people using the facility, to corporate sponsors, to general fundraising.” Superintendent Kuehn explained. “We’ve already heard from some local community member businesses that have reached out to us saying they’ll help if we ask, but right now, we’re not talking about those things because we just don’t know what that final price will be until the bids go out.” When asked if they had made a comparison of natural vs. artificial turf, they revealed they had not, as schools that had natural grass fields didn’t use them as often due to it breaking down much faster after multiple use or bad weather. “I think the committee that was in place back in the previous school year felt that the amount of use, having an artificial turf would far outweigh the costs in terms of use of that field. What we talked about tonight was the field out at the college, or if we had a grass field out back, you’re not going to have the amount of usage on those fields because you’re saving those fields for your varsity teams to compete on with painted lines. You’re not going to have Phys Ed classes and JV teams running on those fields and tearing them up. They’re going to be used as a competitive athletic field that’ll get used on a Monday or Friday night,” Kuehn explained. “So, you’re going to try and save that field, so it’s a quality, varsity, experience field when you have guests that come down to play. That’s an expectation of any school district. To have a quality field in place.” When asked what the school would make off the events like the Section Track meets, in which they revealed they didn’t bring in anything other than concession money for the school district, but the funds would go to downtown. He also mentioned that the facility wasn’t meant to be made to make revenue for the school but to help the students’ sports programs with their practices and events.
This is the third of four public meetings the school district is holding about the facility for the public to learn about the school’s plans and ask any questions about its construction and impact on the community. The next and final meeting will be on Wednesday, August 3, at 5:30 p.m. in the Crookston High School Auditorium, with the vote on the referendum happening on Tuesday, August 9, from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church. If you have any questions about the facility’s construction and planning, you can contact Interim Superintendent Dave Kuehn at 218-281-5313.
