Buckeye Trail investing $2.6M in athletic fields

OLD WASHINGTON — Buckeye Trail High School might have been the last area school to unveil new artificial turf on its football field.

But thanks to some progressive planning, the East Guernsey Local School District didn't stop with the football field, going a few steps further and opting to turf the baseball and softball fields in phase two of a facility upgrade.

Phase three of the project is slated to be completed later this summer with the installation a new all-weather track at the Baker Activity Complex.

That planning had been in place for a couple years, according to Buckeye Trail athletic director Aaron Bates.

"We made the decision to do all of them at the same time about two years ago during our building and grounds committee meeting that winter," Bates explained. "It consisted of school board members John Scurlock and Denny Patterson, the superintendent at that time Adam Pittis and myself. During the meeting we knew if was time to redo the track because it was getting to the end of its life span.

"We had talked about turfing the football field, and I was hoping to be able to get that done and the track," Bates added. "And through those conversations, that process turned into 'hey let's just do baseball and softball and knock them all out at the same time.'"

Bates said the district was in solid shape financially, so the decision was made to move forward with the project.

For the moment, Trail leads the way having the area's only turf baseball and softball fields. Both were used during home games last week.

"Right now we kind of have bragging rights," Bates joked. "But back when we originally decided to do them all, turfing the baseball and softball fields were not a common thing. Everyone was doing their football field.

"But now in the last few years, you see everyone all over the place doing the baseball and softball fields. So it went from something I thought was kind of rare when we made that decision, to now becoming much more common. I know of several more schools who have it in the works right now."

Bates put the estimated cost of the project around $2.6 million with $1.4 million for the combined baseball and softball fields, and $1.2 million for the football field and track.

"It's kind of hard to give exact number right now until the track is completed," Bates explained. "Plus we have some more fencing and other little things to finish up with baseball and softball fields, but a good estimate is right around $2.6 million for all four fields."

All the funds for the project came from the district's permanent improvement account and not tax dollars, according to Bates. But he added the school board did approve a short term, low interest loan through Jefferson Health Plan to make sure the school had the funds to take care of other issues that may arise.

"With the COVID year in 2020, there were not a lot of projects happening with nothing going on," Bates stated. "That allowed us to build up some money in our permanent improvement account so that's why we were in pretty good shape financially. We decided the timing was right, and that's a key reason we decided to go ahead and get it all done now."

Bates explained that artificial turf fields have many advantages over natural grass, including being easier to maintain, not requiring water or fertilizer and accommodating a variety of activities. With artificial turf, students can practice on the field in almost any weather without damaging the ground plus artificial turf doesn't freeze in the winter or thin out in the summer.

"It's really amazing to walk out and see the entire facility, it's really hard to beat what we have now," Bates said. "I'm just really thankful for the support of our school board and administration.

"They have allowed me to kind of follow my vision of things, and just allowed me to go to work along with a lot of other people," Bates added. "And now because of that support, we have a facility that the entire community can be really proud of."

Buckeye Trail head baseball coach Cory McQuain is already a big fan of the new artificial turf. He feels his team is reaping the benefits from it.

"It's such a great thing and has already helped us get better prepared for the season," McQuain explained. "We have been able to get outside almost every day here in the preseason. Last year I think we only practiced outside on the field five times all season.

"So we are way ahead of where we were last year," he continued. "It's such an advantage to be able to practice on the field instead of inside a gym. You can only get so much done in the gym, and it's hard to have really good quality practices. This new turf field is already a big bonus for us, and the boys just love it."

kstutton1@gannett.com; @KSuttonDJSports

This article originally appeared on The Daily Jeffersonian: Buckeye Trail investing $2.6M in athletic fields