The Crookston School District Football Field/track facility committee met Wednesday evening and elected to send a recommendation for a turf football field and eight-lane track to the Crookston School Board to look into the possibility of building the facility in the back of the high school.
Coming into the meeting there were several objectives.
The first was understanding the costs associated with the project. One cost-saving measure is having the Crookston High School Construction Trades class build the concession stand. “We thought that would instill some Pirate Pride, some cost savings and it also has all the aspects we look for as far as student curriculum with that course,” said Crookston School District Superintendent Jeremy Olson. “We were working with Travis Oliver to see if it was possible and he said it is possible and we can do this. I think it would be pretty cool down the road to say they had a hand in this or I got to build this.”
The second objective was to set choose a turf or grass field. The committee voted unanimously to go with a turf field. “There was a lot of discussion on costs, ongoing costs, maintenance costs, usability and in the end, the committee decided to go with turf,” said Superintendent Olson. “They felt it was a better value to our taxpayers when you start looking at the usability of turf, the playing surface, and what kind of playing surface the turf provides for our kids as far as a safety element. We also looked at playability and not having to contend with the water, mud, and some of those things we, unfortunately, have become accustomed to in this part of Minnesota.” Olson added that they have talked to East Grand Forks about their turf field and they are very happy with it and it has been a good value for them.
The third objective was to decide on how many lanes the track would have and the committee decided to go with an 8-lane track. “If you go with a six-lane track you can’t hold competitions on it. It comes back to being a practice track and would that really be worth the savings,” said Superintendent Olson.
The committee also wanted more seating so they are looking at bleachers with 750 to 1,000 capacity instead of the 500. “The committee wants to give our fans enough room and that became really important,” said Superintendent Olson.
At the end of the meeting, Superintendent Olson asked the committee if they were ready to forward the project to the school board for recommendation and the committee agreed it was time to bring it forward. The recommendation from the committee will go to the board at the May 24th meeting. “The school board will be charged with timelines and they have to look through the plans as well because they are ultimately legally charged with whether or not this happens,” said Superintendent Olson. “Time tables will be set if they want to move forward and when it would be put up for an election, and so forth.”
