Dirt from the football field at Wawasee High School is being loaded in a Don & Sons Excavating truck to be hauled away. The formerly grass field will be converted to artificial turf this summer.
SYRACUSE — Wawasee Community School Corporation’s “wish list” of construction projects and renovations is occurring, in part, this summer, but other items won’t be finished until the fall or will wait until next summer.
One of the big projects being done and already underway is removing the grass field of Warrior Field at Wawasee High School and replacing it with artificial turf, more specifically the CrossFlex Turf system of the Cincinnati-based The Motz Group.
The approximately $800,000 project will involve laying limestone for drainage, then a concrete pad and topping it off with the turf. Don Ritter, director of facilities and maintenance for the school corporation, said the concrete pad is important because it will extend the life of the field considerably.
He said the field will no longer be referred to as just a football field, but will be a multi-purpose field. “Before we had to wait for the field to recuperate after a football game,” Ritter said. But now, said Cory Schutz, athletic director for the high school, all home football and soccer games will be played on the field and practices can be held on it daily.
In addition, middle school football and soccer teams, bands, physical education classes and more will be able to use the field. The turf does not hold water and will be cleaner because no mud will be tracked back into the school on days where it has rained.
Ritter noted no more lines will need to be painted on the field and no more weeding, mowing and manicuring will be needed. Some maintenance will be required, such as leveling off the rubber infill and replacing the rubber as needed.
The project is expected to be finished by the second week of August. It may require the home opening football game to be rescheduled to another location.
Another major project this summer is renovating the former Veterans of Foreign Wars building on Chicago Street in Syracuse. The building will be gutted and transformed into classrooms and welding stations. There will be a gone boarding class where boards of all types such as skateboards, wakeboards and others will be put together.
Students in the Pathways cooperative will utilize the facility for welding classes and the plan is to also eventually offer classes to the public in the evenings.
Also this summer, North Webster Elementary is getting surveillance upgrades in the parking lot and glass and aluminum frames will be installed at the front entrance to direct all visitors through the main office instead of having immediate access to side hallways. The gym roof is being replaced, new carpeting is being installed in the hallways, office area and media center and painting is being done in many rooms.
A high efficiency water heater and boiler are both being installed, technology boards are being updated in classrooms, LED lighting is being installed, there will be a fenced in lot for bus parking and the nature trail is being paved.
Technology boards are also being updated at Milford School, along with the gym bleachers being replaced, the tennis courts being renovated and LED lighting being installed. At Wawasee Middle School, the tennis courts are being renovated, the bus fuel tank is being removed and new pool starting blocks are being installed. LED lighting is being installed where needed and technology boards are being updated.
Also at the high school, LED lighting is being installed at the varsity baseball and softball fields, soccer fields and tennis courts and in the school where needed. Technology boards are being updated, water heaters are being replaced, the B wing air conditioning chillers are being renovated, a trail is being installed along Kern Road to connect the high school with the new Syracuse Elementary and signage is being improved on the high school campus.