The tradition of Hoisington athletics dates past 2010, but over the span of the last 13 years fans have seen hundreds of great athletes compete on the artificial turf and track. While the Hoisington school district will replace the turf and track this summer, USD 431 Superintendent Patrick Crowdis said anyone will have a chance to purchase a part of the old turf as a piece of memorabilia.
There will 1'-x-1' squares to be sold over the
Labor Day weekend celebration, and much larger rolls of turf will be cut and rolled
up at the beginning of summer. These rolls will be 7.5' wide and the width
of the football field.
"These rolls will take some heavy equipment to get and load up," said Crowdis. "We want people to commit to it. When the company heads out with whatever is left over, whatever is setting there...we can't just throw that away in the landfill. They have people contracted to take that extra turf."
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The large rolls of turf will be sold for $250 and forms and funds must be
filled out at the district office by May 24. If someone is looking
for an even more special piece of Hoisington history, the Cardinal logo at the 50-yard line
will be removed in a 15-yard by 15-yard section and is available through a
silent, online auction at biddingowl.com until May 30.
The $1.597 million turf and track replacement will be handled by ATG, based out
of Andover and should begin the first full week of June.
"ATG is the company we did the turf with originally," said Crowdis. "They'll come to regrade just a little bit to make sure the drainage is as good as it was before, make some minor upgrades and then get the track and turf back in before the start of football season."
Crowdis expects the project to be completed by early August.