Gilmer Stadium getting "State of the Art" Turf Installed

[Buckeyeman]

The rewards of winning a state championship

From the 5-25 edition of the Gilmer Mirror

GHS stadium to get 'state-of-the-art' turf
fieldturf.com

By MAC OVERTON
By MAC OVERTON
The Gilmer Buckeyes will be playing on a “state of the art” field at home football games this fall.
That’s because the Gilmer School Board on Monday accepted an $829,000 bid from FieldTurf™ to completely redo the field, including the track, in the most advanced technology available.
The bid was recommended by Jeff Bresee of Sports Engineering Technologies LLC of Mansfield, which established specifications for the project and solicited bids. Five bids were submitted for the board’s approval. SET is a “synthetic turf engineering and consulting” firm, Bresee said.
Before the bids were discussed, Supt. Rick Albritton told the board that “we have a choice—do it the way people have been doing it” or go for what “we know is the best of the bunch.”
He said that the FieldTurf product would cost a little more than what was originally considered, but that it had a projected life span of 15 years, rather than eight for other products considered.
He said that FieldTurf’s bid included resurfacing the track with polyurethane, not latex like the current track.
Bresee said that about eight or nine years ago, turf companies began changing from AstroTurf® to other forms of artificial turf. While better than AstroTurf, after eight years, those fields of monofilament turf are “pretty well worn out.” He said that sunlight, as well as play, was hard on the turf.
Bresee said “the new monofilament turf is to the older turf as the older turf was to AstroTurf.”
Athletic director Jeff Traylor told the board that “whatever we get will be better than what we have now.”
School board members grilled Bresee about the new field’s drainage properties, as well as safety issues.
He explained the way the new turf will provide for better drainage.
He also said that it will be safer for players, because the base of ground rubber and sand will have “more give.”
There is also a performance bond and there will an insurance policy included in the bid. The insurance will protect the school’s investment if the vendor were to go out of business.
Bresee’s firm will oversee installation of the new turf and rebuilding of the track.
If the installers don’t complete the field in time for home games, they will pay $30,000 to the school district for each game missed, Traylor said.
Bresee said that they’ve determined that it takes about $30,000 to move a game from a scheduled field.
Dennis Despain made the motion to accept the recommended bid. It was seconded by John Finney and passed unanimously.
Traylor was jubilant, and explained to the board that the new field will be available for use nearly every day of the year, unlike the current grass field, which must be pampered and protected to remain in shape for Friday night games.
Also, the new field might attract playoff games.
In other business, the school board accepted a bid of $17,800 from ERI of Tyler to remove and dispose of vinyl tile in the Career and Technologies Building and a pipe in the auto shop, both of which contain asbestos.
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[mwynn05]

Just goes to show how much winning can do.

[AggieJohn]

Originally posted by Buckeyeman
The rewards of winning a state championship

in other business, the school board accepted a bid of $17,800 from ERI of Tyler to remove and dispose of vinyl tile in the Career and Technologies Building and a pipe in the auto shop, both of which contain asbestos.
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that's the most exciting news