A Mitchell High football player’s cleat sinks deep into the grass during a rainy game this past season. The field can easily get torn up, especially during severe weather, but artificial turf is coming and will help. (MNJ file photo)
The first steps toward putting artificial turf on the Mitchell High football field are in motion.
Executive Director of Athletics Kim Hodshon detailed the genesis of the project to the Mitchell County Board of Education during its regular meeting on Thursday, Jan. 27.
The turf project is made possible by $1.1 million in state grant funding that is part of the recently passed state budget. That money is earmarked specifically for the project.
“I know that got blown up a while back on Facebook,” said Superintendent Chad Calhoun. “The money we get lots of times is earmarked. We can’t spend it on anything else. This $1.1 million can’t be spent on anything other than a football field. We’re handcuffed on lots of things.”
To turf the field, it must be raised nearly four feet to make it level with the track. As currently constructed, the terrain slopes down from the track and onto the football sidelines.
An estimated 6,300 cubic feet of dirt will be needed, Hodshon said.
“That is going to be a big cost of the project in addition to the synthetic turf surface,” she said.
Ideally, whoever does the turf project will use dirt from the site of the proposed new school for grades 3-8 in Ledger, cutting down on the cost of buying and transporting terrain from outside of the county.
The request for proposals is live and has been sent to companies who have quoted the project in the past. It also ran in last week’s edition of the News-Journal. Bids were asked to be sent by Feb. 2.
If at least three bids aren’t received by the deadline, the RFP will go out again for an additional seven days. Bids can’t be opened until three are in or the advertisement has gone out twice.