Fayetteville stadium to get new playing surface

FAYETTEVILLE — New synthetic turf to be installed at the high school’s stadium will come with a little extra padding below it.

The School Board on Thursday unanimously approved a plan to replace the turf at Harmon Field for $518,841. A pad made of rubber and plastic will be included under the turf to improve shock absorbency.

The Cushdrain pad will cost an additional $188,950, according to a proposal submitted by Hellas Construction, the firm hired for the job.

Athletic Director Steve Janski said thousands of fields around the country have Cushdrain pads, but he wasn’t aware of another high school in Arkansas that has one.

A field’s ability to absorb shock is measured by its G-max rating. The higher the rating, the less shock absorption a playing surface has.

Fayetteville’s current field has an estimated G-max rating of 170-185. The new turf, combined with the pad, would reduce its rating to 85-95 and therefore reduce the risk of concussions, Janski told the board at its meeting last month, when administrators first pitched their plan.

“This dramatically improves the safety factor for our students and decreases liability,” he said.

The pad comes with a 25-year warranty. Hellas did Fayetteville’s baseball and softball fields, and district officials were happy with the job they did, said Assistant Superintendent Megan Slocum.

The current turf is about eight years old and at the end of its life. It’s used for a lot of things other than football, Slocum said.

Hellas was expected to begin its work today, according to Slocum.

In other business Thursday,

the board approved a change to this year’s continuous learning calendar, eliminating the intersession, or vacation, that had been scheduled for all of next week.

Asbell Elementary School, Owl Creek School and Happy Hollow Elementary School operate on the continuous learning calendar, in which schools get an additional week off during both the fall and spring semesters and summer break starts two weeks later than it does on the traditional calendar.

Tanya Tucker, associate superintendent for administrative service, said since the covid-19 pandemic prevents students and teachers from enjoying the week in a vacation spot of their choice, they’re going to continue with the alternative methods of instruction that have been in place since schools closed to in-person instruction last month.

“That would allow them to dismiss a week earlier than originally scheduled on the calendar approved last year,” Tucker said.

The school year for those three schools will end June 4 instead of the original June 11 date. All other schools in the district will let out May 28. Dave Perozek can be reached at dperozek@nwadg.com or on Twitter @NWADaveP.