For a community that loves its football team, the news hurt.
For a community that loves its football team, the news hurt.
Chardon Schools finally announced what it seemed most already knew: the field turf replacement at Memorial Field was behind schedule, and the school’s fall sports teams, youth teams, band and students — including the defending 2020 state champion football team — would not take the field until at least mid-September.
“The field turf replacement project has experienced some problems that are having a pronounced impact on the project schedule,” wrote Superintendent Michael Hanlon in a letter to parents July 16. “Field turf removal in June was on schedule. In mid-June, trucks delivering material to the field caused damage to the sub-base which is critical to a safe and suitable playing surface.”
At Monday’s school board meeting, President Madelon Horvath got right to the point after the Pledge of Allegiance.
“We are well aware that people are concerned about what is happening with the football field and the progress of the turf replacement,” she said. “And we are, too.”
Horvath said the project was a top priority.
“We absolutely know that our sports are very important for our kids, and we started our planning over two years ago,” she said.
This is the second time the field turf is being replaced at Memorial Field, which was built in 2000 mostly by community donations and volunteer expertise from longtime community members like Tim Smith, whose four sons played football as Hilltoppers. The first turf replacement, in 2009, was funded by the school’s permanent improvement levy.
Smith, who has worked in excavating for 40 years, helped build both Memorial Field and the high school track next to it.
“This field was in top condition,” said Smith, who blamed the contractor, subcontractors and school’s administration for the current situation, at the board meeting. “Heavy trucks continued to run on the existing stone base, crushing and tearing up valuable stone and drainage systems that are critical to the use of this field.”
He continued: “The main issue is this was all witnessed by, and allowed to continue all day, by our superintendent and operations manager … neither of whom has the knowledge or experience to be in charge of a project of this magnitude.”
Hanlon wrote the damage to the field should be repaired by Aug. 1, at which point the turf installation, a three- to four-week process, will begin. Weather could push it further behind.
Decisions about where Chardon’s fall sports will practice and play are still being determined by Athletic Director Doug Snyder, with coaches and the administration.
Options like the SPIRE Institute in Geneva are being weighed for currently scheduled home soccer and football games. More would be known this week, Snyder said.
The football team will begin its Aug. 1 practice in the middle of the track, which is a grass field.
For a community that could not attend Friday night football games in 2020 due to the coronavirus, last week’s news was a startling reality.
Memorial Field normally hosts thousands of popcorn-loving fans of all ages each year.
“I feel terrible for the coaches, student-athletes, parents, fans and taxpayers in general for this lack of expertise and professionalism for this total project,” Smith said. “Accountability needs to happen from the top to the bottom.”
Chardon was scheduled to play three of its first four football games this season at home against Glenville (Aug. 20), Ursuline (Sept. 3) and Riverside (Sept. 10).
Chardon also had home scrimmages scheduled for Aug. 7 and Aug. 13.
The school district has a history of high profile stadium stories. The original Chardon Memorial Recreation Park was built in the summer of 1948, also through community donations, and was famously attended by actor and Cleveland native Bob Hope.
Tickets were $1 for adults and 60 cents for children.
Before its opening, Chardon played all its games on the road for three seasons.
Today’s field hosts football and boys and girls soccer, provides practice space for other teams like baseball and softball in the spring, and hosts Chardon’s new lacrosse teams. It was the first turf facility in the county.
The field is also used during recess for grades 4 through 7 at Chardon Middle School.
Earlier this week, Chardon was continuing the installation of a brand-new scoreboard.
The cost of the new scoreboard was $119,892, according to Treasurer Deb Armbruster.
Of that, $90,000 came from the scoreboard fund, which has been accumulating for many years with proceeds from advertising dollars collected on the old scoreboard.
The fund also received a donation of just over $37,000 last year from a fundraiser sponsored by Junction Auto. The remainder of the scoreboard is being paid from the school’s permanent improvement fund, Armbruster said.
But, as the field had looked like a gravel parking lot for weeks, stories about what had happened to the project, how much it would cost to fix, and whether anybody would be playing on it by the first day of school soured the community.
Horvath admitted that the school board could possibly have responded better.
“We decided to wait until we had more information — the soil reports … and all that — and we didn’t get that until last week,” she said. “In hindsight, perhaps we should have taken a different approach. But again we wanted to have solid information. … The rumor machine got ramped up, and now some folks think that they were right all along. For that I want to apologize.”
“Literally. I know nothing,” texted Mitch Hewitt, Chardon’s head football coach, a week ago when asked about the status of the field.
He followed up Monday morning: “No comment.”
