Outside South Albany High School’s stadium on Wednesday evening, July 29, 2026. Inside, the field and track are being refurbished.
It seems like only yesterday that I reported on South Albany High School’s football field getting artificial turf. But in fact it was a dozen years ago, in 2014.
How time flies when you’re having fun. I wrote two stories on the construction of the new field that year. You can read one of them here.
A couple days ago I got an email from someone who lives near the high school. What did I know about the football field being torn up so the artificial turf can be replaced? Or words to that effect.
Not much at the time, but I looked it up.
The short answer is that on April 20 the Albany School Board approved several big maintenance projects to be done this summer. Among them: Replacement of the turf on the football fields of both South and West Albany High School, along with new surfaces on the tennis courts and the track at South.
The board accepted quotes for the football field work from Beynon Sports Surfaces, of Tualatin, under a nationwide cooperative purchasing agreement that saves local districts from asking for bids.
The new turf at South is costing $631,787, and the new track is $514,974. The quote for the South tennis courts was $47,269.
At West, the new football field turf is $488,355.
Dave Bolin, executive director of operations for Greater Albany Public Schools, explained the projects in a memo to the board:
“Both fields are among the most heavily used spaces in the District by both school programs and the community, and they are at the end of their useful life. Synthetic turf fields typically have a lifespan of 10–12 years, depending on maintenance and usage. These fields were installed in 2014 and 2015 and have been evaluated by a third party over the past two years and have been identified as reaching end of life. G-Max testing, which measures shock absorption and surface hardness to ensure safety, indicates that both fields are approaching levels considered unsafe for play. Additionally, due to use, the amount of fibers being removed during cleaning confirms replacement is needed. The District has started setting funds aside to support replacement of these fields for the next cycle of replacement. Each field averages approximately 250 hours of community use annually.”
As for the South track, Bolin said it was last top-coated in 2018 at a cost of $90,000, and despite additional repairs in 2024 it was deteriorating further, requiring ongoing repairs for safety.
The track at West was replaced in 2015 with a different material and is in much better shape, Bolin told the board.
Money for these and other summertime maintenance projects is coming out of the district’s funds dedicated to capital projects. Bolin told the board the district now charges fees for community use of sports facilities, accumulating reserves of about $100,000 a year toward replacements in the future.
The tennis courts at South are complete. The school district says the South field and track should be completed by Aug. 16. At West, the turf replacement is scheduled for Aug. 3 through Sept. 2.
My correspondent who asked about this wondered about replacing artificial turf in a county that used to call itself the Grass Seed Capital of the World. Those days, my friend, are gone. (hh)
The tennis courts at South have been resurfaced and look brilliant in the evening light.
You can’t see much, but it looks like a base has been put down for the new turf at South’s field.
Hasso, a couple questions: Why is South’s football field project costing $140K more than West’s, and how are hours of community use calculated?
Not sure but I know South has had drainage problems in the past. Maybe they’re having to deal with that as well.
In answer to your question about the price difference, Superintendent Andy Gardner explains: “Thanks for writing a great story on the turf. One question I saw in the comments was the price differential between the fields at South and West. This is due to the field at South filling the dimensions in both the north and south curves. West’s track has two ‘Ds’ that are track surface, not turf, which creates the difference in the track. Conversely, West’s track has more square footage.”
Just last season, LBCC replaced their entire baseball field with turf. Beautifully! Every season it seems that Mark and Andy make wonderful improvements to the baseball complex. Cheers to them!
Better to do it now, before the huge bond hits the ballot box…it’s coming…
Hopefully, they aren’t scrimping on maintenance items like roof repair. It seems to me a couple decades ago one of the schools had a costly roof leak?