Story, photo courtesy of Steve Nash – Special Contributor to BrownwoodNews.com
EARLY – Early ISD’s Longhorn Stadium will have new turf on its football field and the track will have a new surface when the 2026-27 school year starts.
Early school board members voted Monday to award an $801,893 contract to Hellas Construction of Austin to install the turf. The board voted to award a $190,387 to the same company to resurface the track. The work will be completed before the first of August, school board members were told.
Early superintendent Dr. Joan Otten said funds for the projects will come out of fund balance.
“They’re in pretty rough shape,” Otten said of the turf and track. “The base on (the turf) is wavy. Our kids might be prone to injury.”
Otten said the track “is past its life cycle, so we’re just refreshing that track. Again, to reduce injury, because the asphalt’s starting to crack. The curb is starting to crumble.”
The football turf was last replaced in 2018, and the track was resurfaced in 2019, board members were told.
Before board members voted on the turf contract, Otten said three companies had responded to district’s request for proposals. Small samples of each company’s turf had been placed in the board room, and the Hellas sample had the greatest density.
“It’s a premium turf and pad,” Otten said of the Hellas turf. “This turf right here is proven to reduce injuries on knees, ankles, hips, all of that. We visited two (stadiums) in Houston that had the same turf on them — one at a private school and one at Rice University. We took some athletes down there, and they absolutely loved it. It was fabulous.
“It’s proven to be cooler out on the field, and there are no pellets. All those crazy little pellets that you get — there are no pellets. That’s a big plus. The heat reduction is going to be amazing. Two-a- days are going to be wonderful. (Band) marching season is going to be great. All of that is going to be really nice.”
The Hellas turf has a 12-year warranty, and the pad beneath the turf has a 25-year warranty, board members were told.
“This is the only turf in this area that’s going to be like this,” Otten said. “One thing about Hellas is, we had some issues with our football field at the beginning of the year. Coach Wilson talked to them at coaching school and they came up and fixed it for free. We had some divots and things and they came up and just fixed it for free as part of the service, not even knowing we were going to do anything.”
Regarding the contract for resurfacing the track, Otten said the district had received five proposals including Hellas.
“There’s a price break if we go with them, because if we use them for the football field and the track, so there’s going to be a little bit of a price break on that,” Otten said.
When a board member asked why tracks don’t last longer, Hellas representative Mark Ball replied, “I’m going to say mainly it’s with what’s underneath. It’s water getting underneath the track, creating problems. Your entire track has asphalt underneath the surface.
“So what we’re going to do right now is actually what we call a re-top. We’ll come in and grind the top and then resurface the existing top part and do any minor repairs that are needed to be done. We feel like if you do that, you save a lot of money right now and get at least five, six more years out of your track.”