Charlo field renovation to start in 2017
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CHARLO – The Charlo School District’s football field and track are scheduled for an update in the Spring of 2017 after a committee of volunteers decided to get started on the project during a Monday, Dec. 19 meeting.
“The exact start date is weather related,” volunteer Bernice Hawkaluk said. “If the field is covered in water or mud, it would be difficult to start.”
The Charlo Community Outdoor Complex board is a group of volunteers working on the project and they’ve raised $88,544 in cash and pledges with fundraisers, so far.
“We have enough to get started on the first phase,” she said.
The first part of the project includes culvert installation for truck access, work to level the south end of the football field, setting in a drainage pipe, sod and seed planting plans, and resetting the goal posts and field fences.
The entire project is projected to cost $600,000, which includes a smoothed out football field with a new crown of sod that will drain properly. The track will have a new rubberized surface like the Ronan school track. Lighting will be updated and made energy efficient, scoreboards will be updated, and an underground irrigation system will be installed.
“We haven’t hosted high school track meet in several years like we used to and we’d like to be able to do that again,” she said.
Volunteers helped install the original track and field about 45 years ago, and Hawkaluk said it’s time volunteers get back to work on the project to update it.
The committee invited speaker Daniel Sybrant of Corvallis to the meeting. He was the superintendent at Corvallis for several years and he led a similar updating project at his school.
“Facilities make a difference,” he said, according to meeting minutes. Corvallis completed his school project without using taxpayer money, which is what the CCOC would like to do.
He stated that a few important components helped make the project a success including reaching out to the people in the community, having an engineer early in the project, delegating one person to lead all construction, having a variety of fundraisers, and doing the project in stages.
With those suggestions, volunteer Todd Fryberger is committed to starting the first phase in the spring, according to documents. He stated that the drainage system is one place where an engineer is needed.
Hawkaluk said providing a safe updated place for youth and community members to participate in sports, walk, and socialize motivates the volunteers to get the project finished as soon as possible.
Funding for the first phase was raised through donations and fundraisers, and the volunteers plan to host more fundraisers and apply for grants to get the remaining $500,000 to finish the project.
Donations can be sent to the CCOC at P.O. Box 155, Charlo, MT, 59824, or through the GoFund Me page. For more information, email volunteers at CCOComplex@gmail.com. Updates are available on the group’s Facebook page.
