The Canby School District Board of Directors met last month and unanimously approved a contract to replace the high school’s failing athletic field for $412,171.
The contract was awarded to FieldTurf, a global leader in artificial sports fields — an industry they revolutionized in the 1990s with their design that more accurately replicated real grass.
The district’s plan is to have the field replaced following graduation on June 7. The project will be paid for out of the district’s turf replacement fund (which has a current balance of more than $300,000) and $100,000 from a contingency account in the 2018-19 fiscal year budget.
Finance Director Denise Lapp recommended that, moving forward, the district set aside $35,000 each year from the general fund budget for future field replacements. Field revenues and interest will also be added to cover this cost.
Although artificial fields offer numerous advantages over grass, including reduced maintenance costs and the ability to use them on a year-round basis, one disadvantage is that they do have to be replaced every eight to 10 years.
The current field, which was built in 2010 through a local fundraising campaign that raised more than $950,000 needed to install the turf and all the underlying infrastructure, was declared unfit for use for the current spring sports season.
