Norwin expected to replace stadium turf

Norwin high school sports teams, marching band and physical education classes will have a safer field on which to play and march with new artificial turf at Knights Stadium, officials said.

School board members this week indicated they support replacing the stadium’s eight-year-old turf as well as repainting its track. The board also will consider replacing the dirt infield on the girls softball field with artificial turf when it votes on a contract at its Monday meeting.

Shaw Sports Turf bid $480,000 — the lowest of four bids — to replace the turf, said Brandon Rapp, Norwin athletic director. Repairing damage in the base layer, which Rapp said is essentially “a shock absorber,” would cost about $9,000.

Repainting the track would cost $9,875, with $93,000 needed to install artificial turf on the softball infield, Rapp said.

Money for the turf would come from the capital improvements fund, which would have about $1.1 million for the beginning of the 2019-20 fiscal year, said Thomas Wrobleski, human resources director.

The school district could save as much as a $41,000 if other districts in the region use Shaw Sports to install artificial turf at roughly the same time and lowers overall costs for the company, Rapp said. The Jeannette School Board this week also approved installing turf at its football field.

Without new turf, Norwin’s football, soccer, field hockey and lacrosse teams likely would be forced to play all games away from home — which would require additional busing costs, Rapp noted. “I’m not sure the field will be usable this fall,” he said.

The artificial turf companies said the field is beyond repair, Rapp said.

To those concerned about the cost, board member Robert Perkins quipped that maybe someone could “find a shoemaker in Greensburg to come down to fix it for $15,000.”

“We know we have problems with this. We have to deal with this problem right now,” said Barbara Viola, board president.

Shaw Sports would have the turf installed and ready for use in 45 days, said Raymond Battistel, the company’s regional representative.

The contractor would begin work after the May 24 graduation ceremonies, Rapp said. The field would be ready for football practice in August, he said.