Construction vehicles work on the Clarke Central High School field as part of the school’s ongoing athletic renovations. The renovations are expected to be finished in the coming months, with some components expected to be complete as soon as early October. “The project seems to be on schedule. There’s been some delays due to the weather, as you would have with any construction project,” said CCHS Athletic Director Dr. John Ward. “But, the information we’re getting from the Clarke County School District (Special Option Local Purpose Sales Tax) office, who oversees the project, is that the stadium will be ready for our first home game, Oct. 9.” Photo by Luna Reichert
The ongoing Death Valley renovations at Clarke Central High School are nearing completion, with the field expected to be finished by Oct. 9.
Clarke County School District Director of Facility, Construction Planning, and Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax John Gilbreath estimates additional renovations are to follow shortly after the field’s completion.
“We’re shooting for the end of September, Oct. 1 to have the field in and ready to go for the Oct. 9 game,” Gilbreath said. “The visitor concession stand probably won’t be done, but you’ll have the visitor bleachers in, you’ll have the field in. The track will probably have asphalt down, but it may not have the actual rubber surface down.”
The main feature of the $4.89 million renovations is a new artificial turf field, which CCHS boys varsity soccer coach and Associate Athletic Director Chirstopher Aiken hopes will provide a stable, lower-maintenance field.
“Having a turf field will eliminate a lot of problems,” Aiken said. “There’s really no barrier to when you can practice and play other than lightning now, so having the turf field will be tremendous for all our athletic programs.”
CCHS senior and varsity boys soccer left wing Hunter Yelton was also glad to hear about the turf field.
“You know, with our season being cut short because of corona, we also had three games canceled or delayed because of rain,” Yelton said. “I think that (the turf) will help us out a lot, not having to worry about the weather so much now.”
While Yelton was enthusiastic about the turf’s decreased maintenance, he recognized that turf creates some unique problems for student-athletes.
“No player likes to slide on turf because it messes up your legs pretty badly and it does hurt if you fall the right way,” Yelton said.
Components lie on the Clarke Central High School field in preparation for use in the athletic renovation project. Photo by Luna Reichert
According to Gilbreath, CCSD is taking specific safety measures to address some of the unique issues that turf poses.
“We’re using something called BrockFILL which is made from wood chips or wood particles from pine trees. In addition to the BrockFILL, we have a pad which deals with the hardness of the surface,” Gilbreath said. “The Brock pad and the BrockFILL, the combination of those two items in this system gives you a surface which is better than natural grass as far as hardness of the field and safety components of the field.”
CCHS Athletic Director Dr. Jon Ward mentioned an additional safety measure aimed at decreasing the turf’s surface temperature.
“We’re also using an organic seal that also goes under the turf, which decreases the surface temperature of the field. (It) makes it more in-line with a normal grass field as far as heat as opposed to a turf field with a synthetic seal,” Ward said.
