Stadium project end date in sight
LANSDALE >> While hundreds of students and families got their first look weeks ago, work on North Penn’s rebuilt Crawford Stadium is not quite done yet.
District officials heard another update on Crawford’s ongoing renovations last week, including a target date for the end of the project.
“The track, and stadium, will be available for full use by July 19,” said project construction manager Bill Slawter.
“We hope to obtain the final certificate of occupancy at the end of July, for the stadium,” he said.
Work began in June 2020, just after dozens of drive-through graduation ceremonies were held there, on an $8.2 million reconstruction of a stadium built in the
early 1970s to add a synthetic field surface, widen ramps and concourses, upgrade drainage to prevent flooding, and add new athletic and amenities buildings while modernizing infrastructure.
Three in-person graduation ceremonies were held in the new stadium on June 12, but work is not quite done yet, Slawter told the school board’s facilities and operations committee June 28. Seeding of new grass around the complex has been done since, and contractors are working on punch-list items to finish the project. Installation of the athletic track began on June 15, just after the graduation weekend, and the contractor aims to have it fully installed by July 16, weather permitting.
“We look good to meet that date,” Slawter said.
Contractors are also working ahead to secure final permits once that certificate is issued, “so you can get started on other projects at the high school,” he added.
The next steps over the upcoming month include additional seeding where necessary, and no critical issues have been identified in the past month to put the project behind schedule, while track installation started three days earlier than expected. One section of unsuitable soil has been identified on the south side of the new stadium athletic building, and stone has been installed with a final cost still pending, and the contractor and Towamencin Township staff are evaluating a grading issue at the top of the new driveway leading into the stadium.
“We’re working on a final change order, to address all outstanding issues with the project,” Slawter said.
A new covered entryway now stands between the two new buildings, carrying the stadium’s name and district logo, and adhesive has been laid down for below the track surface, Slawter told the committee, while showing a photo of dozens of bags of granular track rubber “that’s getting ready for installation.”
The black rubber pole vault jump track has already been installed and striped, while similar black rubber for the track surrounding the field has been installed on the home and visitor sides, in front of the new stadium bleachers, with white lines painted to mark the boundaries.
Board member Juliane Ramic thanked the construction team for having the stadium largely finished ahead of graduation.
“It was absolutely phenomenal to be able to sit on the field, and to see the stands, especially the ADA accessible ramps in use. It was incredibly impactful and meaningful to see that,” she said, “and also, just to be able to kind of rest easy, knowing that we could use that facility, and not have any stress due to structural issues.”
During that graduation visit, Ramic added, she noted an unplanned benefit to an issue that arose during construction: the large mounds of soil excavated below the field surface, that have now been planted into landscaped berms between the stadium and nearby Sumneytown Pike.
“It creates a little bit of a sense of community, it kind of blocks the noise of the road there. And then the landscaping on that is quite lovely,” she said.
District Director of Facilities and Operations Tom Schneider said he’s been working with school security staff to finalize policies and procedures for opening the track to the public. Coordinator of Safe Schools Chris Doerr gave an update on that process during the board’s safe schools committee meeting Monday night.
“Now is a timely opportunity to talk about our usage of school facility policies, as they might relate to Crawford, and then general emergency management planning about the stadium,” he said.
An internal working group has begun talking about use guidelines for the stadium, to develop rules on how to handle events of various sizes from groups that may seek to use it.
North Penn’s school board next meets at 7 p.m. on July 15 and the safe schools and facilities and operations committees meet at 5:45 p.m. and 7 p.m. respectively on July 26; for more information visit www.NPenn.org.