Grapeland Field Gets a Make-Over Before Next Year’s Season
By Greg Ritchie
Messenger Reporter
GRAPELAND – If you drive out by the Grapeland Independent School District (GISD) football field and track – don’t be alarmed. That sea of dirt and mud is all part of the plan.
GISD has begun its $1.6 million renovation of the field, including new artificial turf, fixing the drainage and improving the track – all set to be done sometime this summer before next season’s Friday nights heat up again.
GISD Athletic Director Jordan Wood said the plan to redo the field had come up even when he was interviewed for the job, but even though it was sorely needed, he figured it might be many years before the field was redone due to the high cost.
“Our field was declining fast and our drainage actually closed up completely and went into the field,” Wood said. “It was causing sinkholes all through the sideline on both sides, which was very dangerous and a real problem. Before games, we actually had to take some buckets of sand out there and fill them up. And so it was a big pain and something we had to address one way or the other.”
One company came to look at the field and told Wood they were afraid to even give a quote to repair the drainage issue since the problem had become so bad. The field had not been worked on in 30 or so years and the district knew sooner or later a solution would need to be found – with the problem only becoming worse – and more expensive each year.
Wood said he approached Julie Martin with GISD who had some positive news to help Wood find a solution.
“We had a meeting about money and Ms. Martin our ‘money lady’ has done a fantastic job of building our accounts. She moves money around to gain interest and things like that. She’s really built our accounts up so we feel comfortable spending a chunk of money and it’s only a small fraction of what she has in our accounts,” Wood explained.
“We could do it without putting any type of stress on our school district. And that was something the board and superintendent felt we could safely with no strain on the district because of the savings she had built up,” Wood said.
Deciding to spend their money all at once and get all the work done would be more cost effective, the field will get new artificial turf, the drainage will be redone and the track will be fixed, too.
The eight to 10 week process will depend on some long stretches of good weather to get the field stitched in and all the work completed, although it will be done well in time for the start of school next year.
Wood pointed out while the district does not quite have the same budget as an NFL team, the new artificial field will be similar to some of those used by the big teams, such as the Nebraska Cornhuskers or Philadelphia Eagles.
Wood is looking forward to quicker runs, in football and track, surer footing and, yes, even some bragging rights when teams visit next year as the Sandies show off their new “floor.”
“We can make this move without any burden to us and it will be something nice for the district to have. And the first step of really making this district one of the best in Texas.”
Greg Ritchie can be reached at [email protected]
