Awarding of Burrell stadium contracts delayed by a month

Burrell School Board has delayed awarding contracts for the planned renovation of Buccaneer Stadium by a month because additional architectural design work is being done, officials said.

The delay won’t put the project behind schedule, according to Burrell Superintendent Shannon Wagner. Work had not been expected to start until March because of the weather, Wagner said.

Planned work includes installing a new track and fixing drainage problems that have deteriorated the track ringing the field and caused the natural grass field to lose its crown.

A decision to award contracts, and whether to install artificial or natural turf, had been expected in February, but now a decision is anticipated in March.

Public debate over the project heated up last year when the school board decided to install natural grass instead of artificial turf on the field because it would be less expensive.

In response to public pressure to reconsider artificial turf, the board went back to its project architect and sought a “bare-bones” artificial turf estimate. The revised base bid for the project was $1.9 million. An option to add artificial turf was listed as a $550,000 bid alternative.

Once the contracts are awarded in March, Wagner expects work to begin later that month and continue through late August.