Renovations to Quil Ceda Stadium at Marysville-Pilchuck High School were approved at the Aug. 17 school board meeting.
The project, which will include a new track and an artificial turf field to replace the current natural grass field, could be up and running by the beginning of the fall 2010 sports season, according to district athletic director Greg Erickson.
One major reason for the project will be the increased traffic at the stadium with the opening of Marysville Getchell High School in 2010. When the Chargers begin their varsity athletic program in 2011, they’ll share Quil Ceda Stadium for home games, doubling the field’s use for home football, soccer and track and field events.
In its current condition, the field already buckles under limited use.
“Underneath all of sports fields are drainage systems. This one was installed many, many years ago when the facility was built. We’ve had failure of that drainage system. The M-P site it was built on has a very high water table so the ground doesn’t drain very well and its hard to keep good grass growing,” explained capital projects manager John Bingham. “We have a lot of use at that site with the 2,000-plus students we have. There’s also a lot of community use. Our new high school, Marysville Getchell will be using that field as a home field, which is doubling our use of it. It will continue to deteriorate unless we do something to repair it.”
A turf field will likely open the field to year-round use and wider community availability.
Modern artificial turf fields typically have a 15-year life span. Bingham said user fees collected from the field’s use will be put aside toward an eventual replacement.
“Most of the school districts are doing this. Some have had artificial turf for quite some time,” he added.
Another silver lining — Marysville-Pilchuck teams will finally be able to play on their home field when they qualify for state competition. The Tomahawk football team that went 9-0 in 2008 played their home state tournament game at Everett Memorial Stadium. This spring’s boys soccer team played home playoff games at Lake Stevens. Both have turf fields, required for WIAA playoff games.
The school board authorized up to $2 million be spent on the project, Bingham said. The funding is being directed from the health and safety category of the bond approved in 2006. The board will solicit an architect for the project and open the construction to bidding.
