North Union Board of Education and administration officials tour the high school football stadium Monday, prior to the monthly board meeting. The group walked the campus facilities, noting progress on recent projects such as the football stadium and practice fields.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Michael Williamson)
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As the second week of the 2023-24 school year kicked off, North Union officials took note of the progress made on recent district facilities projects.
At the first board of education of this academic year, school officials walked the grounds of North Union High School to see the recent updates to the building’s campus.
Board members and administrators toured the baseball, softball, soccer and football fields including the practice fields, which have been part of the district’s efforts to consolidate and clean up the areas.
Board president Brian Davis said the district has been lucky to get so many projects accomplished in just a few short years.
“Many of these we started talking about before COVID and the ones that we did later, we were still able to get good deals on,” he said. “We’re lucky to have been able to do so much.”
Board member Matt Hall agreed and said much improvement has been made and what is left is mostly finishing details.
“It looks to me like we’re at a place where there are some cosmetics,” he said. “Obviously, we have the final phase of the track, the varsity field, but it looks to me like some nickel and dime clean-up stuff is really what we need right now.”
Ahead of the start of school last week, the district finished a series of projects including more than $600,000 in improvements to the existing practice field and the stadium field. Work included surfacing the track, adding sod to the stadium field and seeding, installing an irrigation system and adding growth blankets to the practice field.
Hall and other members noted some additional cleanup that should happen to the baseball field, which occupies the campus’ northern corner. He said the field is one of the first things visitors to the campus will see and that the school wants to make sure that’s a good impression.
“There are just some things that probably need to go,” Hall added. “We can’t build storage things if they aren’t going to be utilized down the road. So, if it’s not good, it goes. If it needs to stay, we’ll find a home for it.”
Board members also discussed the press box at the football stadium, noting that it could use both small and large repairs. Smaller, more cosmetic repairs like painting or drywall replacement officials said could be a good project opportunity for the FFA students. Larger needs such as installing heat and/or air conditioning units may be needed but would likely be a conversation “further down the road.”
Other remaining fixes include adding a fence to the area near the soccer field. Officials commented that, during games, balls often go off the field and fall into a ditch of mud that needs sectioned off.
Hall added that the fix is doubly necessary given that one of the field’s features is its picturesque backdrop of Richwood Lake to the south.
“I think we’re all in agreement that that is probably one of the best for a soccer field in the state of Ohio,” he said. “It’s a pretty good look and I think we should be proud of it.”
Officials said something as simple as a short fence should both help the issue and keep the line of sight.
Davis said it would be something the district’s grounds crew could work on.