Sports fields work begins Football, baseball bases improved
Shortstop and the 50-yard-line are both getting some love in the Butler School District.
Long awaited work began at two athletic fields in the days following Butler Senior High School's graduation.
At Art Bernardi Stadium, crews cut the football field turf into strips, rolled them up and hauled it all off.
The nearby baseball field, which for years now suffered from swampy puddles and other drainage problems rendering it unusable, is sporting 150 tons of new infield mix.
Nick Morelli, business manager for the school district, said he's glad to see the projects finally proceeding. The football turf project was originally slated for last summer, but concerns in the bidding process made the school board seek a do-over. The bid eventually went to Shaw Sports Turf for about $460,000.
The football field sat naked at the end of this week. A utility vehicle equipped with a cutter drove up and down the field, cutting the gridiron fabric into strips. Crews spent much of the week rebuilding the field's base and leveling it to prepare for new turf.
Morelli said work at the baseball field cost about $15,000 and was handled by a company known as DuraEdge Engineered Soils.
“We're excited to get the facility back up and running,” Morelli said. “We had a baseball field that we couldn't use.”
Les Zang, director of facilities for the district, said his team was trained on how to maintain the baseball field and will be getting more training once the field comes closer to completion. They know how to “put it to bed for the winter” and get it prepped for each season's start.
The baseball field still needs weeds cut out of the dugouts, along with some general cleaning up. But much has already been done. There's a new pitcher's mound, new bases and the new infield material is absorbing water, rather than forming small pools.
For the past several years, the varsity baseball team has used Michelle Krill Field at Historic Pullman Park for most of its home games. In the latest season, the school paid about $3,700 to the city of Butler's parks and recreation department for use of the field, according to the district's athletics office. That amount paid for all of the varsity team's home games and about half of the junior varsity's home games.
Aside from the timing, there's a key link between the two athletic field projects. The facilities crew held onto some of the old football field turf to use it in bullpens beside the baseball fields once the space is cleaned up.
“We're going to be ready for the 2019-2020 season,” Zang said. “We're going to hit that goal.”
