The area has two football stadium turf projects slated for this summer-Jon Alder has one planned as well as Marysville.
Both initiatives began about two years ago, JA started with a community group coming to their board to tell them of their plans to raise funds privately so the district didn’t have to foot the bill. That group also put a plan in place for the upkeep and future replacement of the new surface without any tax dollars being spent. The group has raised more than $500,000 and is looking to get started June 1 after graduation.
Marysville’s been down a different road. Their process started in 2016 with a contractor that had just recently finished the new parking lot, saying they could take on the job.The project was originally $9M for two stadiums with the need for donations to be half of the total. The construction was to start with the high school first over the summer of 2017, then Bunsold the following year.
In a meeting with the district, we were told of this original timeline but when Superintendent Diane Mankins did not have a second facility for a back up plan our feedback was to build the Bunsold stadium first then finish the high school field. Otherwise we felt like they were going to have another fiasco like the parking lot all over again.
Marysville then switched project managers and currently have a $8.7M plan that started with Bunsold last year and the high school is to start this summer. The majority of the money to pay for the stadiums is coming out of the permanent improvement fund because donations didn’t come in as expected and both levies on the ballot passed.
We still think the Marysville should wait to do the high school next year because it gives the district a back up, saves graduation, the track season and a buffer for bad weather. The weather factor was pointed out best by Marysville track coach and history teacher, Luke Sundermeir, when he said in the last six months this area has had the most rain since the civil war.
In order to accomplish this expedited timeline, graduation and the track season have been moved off site.
Overall, we think both facilities will be nice upgrades to what the districts currently have, we just find it interesting how two area districts are going about similar enhancements in polar opposite ways.