Trending
Ohio County Schools will spend almont $600,000 on turf for a new multi-use athletic field at Wheeling Park High School.
The new field will be placed to the left of the baseball field, and not in "The Pit" over the hill from the field as was originally proposed.
Board of education members unanimously approved the turf purchase this week.
Ohio County Schools will pay the Astro Turf company $588,581. This amount includes the base price of the turf at $568,783, as well as an upgrade to a better fiber turf that increased the cost by $19,789, according to Assistant Superintendent Rick Jones.
The project is part of the $42.2 million bond issue approved by voters in 2018.
"It will be built to the left of the baseball field -- there's a big space over there," he told board members. "Over time, it will be developed into a combination soccer and softball field that is all turf."
Jones said he and other school officials visited a similar all-turf field at Tyler Consolidated High School.
"Everything is beautiful," he said of the field. "The batting cages are turf. The bullpens are turf. Everything is turf."
Board president David Croft said the initial thought was to put the field down over the hill.
"My understanding is when the soccer folks looked at it, the width wasn't adequate for a high school soccer game -- or at least that was a concern," he said.
The school district then looked on the top of the hill near the baseball field at land presently owned by the Wheeling Park Commission. The commission had previously permitted WPHS to use the land for athletic purposes, Croft said.
"It was the better place to put the multi-use field, as it will accommodate soccer as well as softball," Croft said. "If we needed it for a high school event, we would have it there."
The new location will provide for a wider field. No additional earthwork will be needed, Jones said. The new field is being drawn to be 60-yards wide, and soccer fields typically are between 55 and 80 yards wide.
The field at Wheeling Island Stadium, where the WPHS teams currently play, is 63 yards wide.
Jones said with just a few minor adjustments to adjust for slope the new field at WPHS also will be 63 yards wide.
Bids to design plans for dugouts, press boxes and parking at the field will be forthcoming in the coming weeks, he said. After this, board members will be presented with the costs for the entire package.
Board member Molly Aderholt said she conferred with fellow WPHS Soccer Moms members, who believe the ideal width for the soccer field should be at least 65 yards if it can be accomplished.
David Crumm, director of operations for Ohio County Schools, said expanding the field to 65 yards will require more excavation and filling in of the area, and this will expand costs.