Updates on the new football field and drainage installation at Petersburg School Board

During the football season, Petersburg heard a lot of complaints from opposing coaches about the state of the football field and the sinkholes that were prevalent on the sideline.

The sinkholes are a result of poor drainage from water, especially after it rains, and it makes the field sink. As a way to combat this, Dr. Julius Hamlin presented an update on the plan for the new drainage system and football field for Petersburg High School at the Petersburg City Public School Board meeting.

"We are going through the process to ensure that we do this the right way," he said.

Petersburg City Council has appropriated $1.3 million dollars for the construction of the football field, specifically installation. Hamlin said he hopes that some can be used for the drainage under the football field.

"We appear to have concrete pipes or drainage that were out there welcome," he explained.

The drainage system that runs under the football field is the same that runs under the school and there are concrete joins that have failed to do their job. Hamlin presented the plan to the school board to walk them through the steps of what is next and what is going to be looked at.

The next steps are to have companies come out to get a greater scope of the issues and what needs to be done to repair the drainage and construct a new field based on the land survey. Since the Petersburg Crimson Wave has its first three football games on the road, the goal is to have the project done before the first football game.

Zoe Collins Rath (she/her/hers) is a sports and education reporter for the Progress-Index. For times email her at ZCollinsRath@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter @zoe_jordan99.

This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Updates on the new field and drainage for Petersburg football