Artificial turf, track project on time and under budget
On Monday, crews were busy cutting and affixing a giant version of the Healdsburg High School (HHS) Greyhounds logo to the new artificial turf field at the high school.
They were using a big machine with a hopper full of adhesive, a long hose and an applicator. “It’s like a big glue gun,” said Glen Schaezlein.
In addition to being the maintenance and operations supervisor for the Healdsburg Unified School District (HUSD) during the school year, Schaezlein is constantly overseeing construction projects, the results of Healdsburg voters’ generosity in approving a series of school bond measures.
The work at HHS is part of Measure D, a $67 million bond intended to improve and modernize Healdsburg secondary schools, the high school and the junior high.
Voters were promised big improvements to the athletic facilities at the high school, and the new field is part of a $10 million project to do just that.
Schaezlein said the new, artificial turf field will be ready by the start of soccer season, which recently became a winter sport. The field is striped for soccer, but is large enough for football. The gridders will be able to practice at HHS, but will still play home games at Recreation Park.
The field project includes a new, all-weather track and an extensive off-track area that Schaezlein showed off Monday, that includes shot put and discus throwing platforms, long jump landing pads, bleachers, warm up areas and more.
A row of redwood trees along the south side of the HHS play fields was removed. Schaezlein said no neighbors complained about the tree removal, “and two of them thanked us” because tree roots were causing damage.
New trees, a type of madrone, will be planted in their place, along with other shrubbery that is expected to cut down on light and sound leakage.
The old all-weather track was in good condition, but Schaezlein said the district didn’t know what was underneath it, so it was scraped off anyway. “The asphalt underneath was in decent shape, but it still needed repair,” he said.
The track and field are has more lighting than before, but the lights will be less irritating to neighbors, Schaezlein said. “These lights are the best. We also retrofitted all the old ones (pointing to the softball fields), so we’ll cut down drastically on light pollution.”
Schaezlein said the project — so far — appears to be under budget, maybe as much as 10 percent, and he predicted it will be ready for soccer, by Nov. 1.
Chris Vanden Heuvel, the HUSD superintendent, said he is happy with the work, but cautioned that, given materials and labor scarcities in the aftermath of the fires and the new steel tariffs, that future Measure D projects may run over budget.
“We budgeted very conservatively, but we have a longer list of projects than we can finance,” he said.
What will the district do to maintain the voters’ multi-million dollar investment in the schools? Members of the community have used the tennis courts, tracks and other facilities for years, as de facto parks. The district is considering limiting public access to its facilities during school hours.
The HUSD board of trustees will discuss the matter next week, at its Sept. 19 meeting. The trustees will meet at 6 p.m. at Healdsburg City Hall.
