New Kensington-Arnold track, football field to be off-limits while surfaces replaced
New Kensington-Arnold School District’s track and football field will be off limits when work to replace their surfaces starts, Superintendent John Pallone said.
In August, the school board approved paying ATT Sports about $205,000 to replace the track, and Sprinturf nearly $320,000 for the artificial surface for the football field at Memorial Stadium.
Work on the track is scheduled to start Wednesday, weather permitting, Pallone said. He said it will be shut off, closed, and locked.
“It has to be,” he said. “It’s a safety issue.”
At its meeting Thursday, the school board approved paying ATT Sports up to an additional $83,000 for any milling and paving work found to be needed at the track. How much milling and paving that will be needed, if any, is not known, Pallone said.
Surface colors chosen
The board agreed to keep the track red with white lines; black with gold lines was another color choice.
Work on the football field will start after the season ends; Valley’s last home game is scheduled for Oct. 25.
Like the track, the stadium will be locked with no access until work is finished, Pallone said.
The field will feature alternating bands of light and dark green. It will have a Viking head in the center in place of the double “V.”
Also like the track, the school board made a color decision, this time for the end zones, where one will say “Valley” and the other “Vikings.”
Color options were the existing gray on black; white on black; or black with a white outline on black.
The board went with black with white outline on black.
Pallone asked the public to respect the district’s facilities, and to not try to gain access while work is underway.
“People think this campus is a free-for-all. It’s not,” he said.
Pallone also wanted to remind the public that pets are not allowed on the Valley High School campus. Pet waste has been found on the grounds, which he said is a problem for students.
“Hopefully the general public will respect our facilities as much as we do,” he said.
Brian C. Rittmeyer, a Pittsburgh native and graduate of Penn State University's Schreyer Honors College, has been with the Trib since December 2000. He can be reached at brittmeyer@triblive.com.
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