The Centralia School District (CSD), in partnership with the Twin Cities Sports Commission (TCSC) and the Lewis County Public Facilities District (PFD), is working on turfing the four fields that make up the Quad Complex at Centralia’s Fort Borst Park.
While the work is underway, the CSD has recently raised concerns about rising costs for the project. CSD staff think the cost increase could result in a negative finding during the next visit from the state auditor’s office, according to PFD Board President Ron Averill.
Averill brought up the issue during a PFD board meeting held on Tuesday, Sept. 10.
Currently, the infields of Fields 6 and 7 on the south end of the Quad are ready to be turfed once materials arrive, which is expected on Sept. 22.
Fields 8 and 9 on the north end of the Quad are being readied for turf. Field 9 will be fully turfed, and options are being considered to try to fully turf Field 8 as well.
The work coincides with the field turfing being carried out by the City of Centralia, which is turfing both Wheeler Field and Field 2 at Fort Borst Park.
As for the CSD’s work on the Quad, originally the plan was to only turf the infields of all four fields. Averill stated they initially expected the fields to cost around $32 per square foot to turf, and the lowest bid came in at a cost of $12.20 per square foot.
This meant excess funding that was earmarked for turfing the fields could be now used to fully turf some of the fields, making them usable not only for softball and baseball, but soccer, lacrosse and other sports as well.
However, to do this, change orders were required as the cost of fully turfing Field 9 was not included in the original contractor bid. That’s what the CSD is concerned about, and Averill said the Borst Park Sports Complex Governing Board was also meeting this week to try to address the concerns.
The hope is to get the CSD to agree to another change order to fully turf Field 8 as well. Doing so would give Borst Park a total of five usable soccer fields with the three grass fields it already has along with Fields 8 and 9.
“Worst case, we’ll only have Field 9. Best case, we’ll have both 8 and 9,” Averill added.
As for funding so far, a total of $2,430,000 was earmarked for turfing the fields in the state budget. Additional funding came from a TransAlta grant totalling $430,000, and the TCSC provided $110,000 while the PFD provided $190,000.
Together with state funding, the CSD had a total of $3,160,000 budgeted to turf the infields of the Quad Complex.
The original bid for the project was $1,079,000, and the change order to fully turf Field 9 was $1,100,000. A total of $170,000 extra costs has been incurred and, including $65,000 set aside for contingency funds, so far the CSD has spent $2,414,000.
This originally left the CSD with $746,000 in remaining funds. However, during Tuesday’s PFD Board meeting, a vote approved an additional $210,000 on top of the $190,000 it had already committed to the project for a total of $400,000.
The TCSC is also providing $50,000 more, and an additional $24,000 is available after savings on mound work at the fields, meaning the CSD now has a total of $1,030,000 in remaining funds to fully turf Field 8 alongside Field 9.
As for the CSD’s audit concerns, Averill said the state funding for the project has already been utilized and all that is left is grant money.
“Because, the $2.4 million that the state provided, is not involved in this,” Averill said. “It’s all grant money that we got from TransAlta, from the Public Facilities District, from the Sports Commission.”
Should the CSD choose to fully turf Field 8 and 9, Dale Pullin explained how many turfed fields for which sports would then be available at Borst Park during Tuesday’s PFD Board meeting.
“That would be another two more softball fields, four 100% turfed girls fastpitch fields,” Pullin said. “It would give us two fully turfed baseball fields, and it will give the high school and junior high much desired practice areas for their kids during (rainy) times, and it would give our local soccer community places to play.”
Pullin is co-owner of the Lewis County Events Center and a tenant of the Northwest Sports Hub at Borst Park owned by the PFD. Pullin and his partner are acting as the fiscal agents for the CSD for the Quad Complex turfing project, Averill said.
Pullin added another change order had also been approved on the project to use Safeshell pellets instead of sand for the turf’s infill.
“The MLB uses it, and instead of sand all the way, it’s gonna have this as infill, makes for much more consistent play without turning into sand brick,” Pullin said. “… That was also included in all the change orders so far. The Safeshell, it does not float and it’s not toxic.”
For more information on the City of Centralia’s turfing project at Fort Borst Park, read The Chronicle’s previous coverage at https://bit.ly/3XEbmxH.
