WATCH | J’Ville board makes decisions on tornado-damaged facilities

Jessieville Superintendent Melissa Speers sits in the Click building Friday. The Jessieville School Board met to vote and discuss the repair of the tornado destruction of its football and track facilities. - Photo by Lance Porter of The Sentinel-Record
Jessieville Superintendent Melissa Speers sits in the Click building Friday. The Jessieville School Board met to vote and discuss the repair of the tornado destruction of its football and track facilities. - Photo by Lance Porter of The Sentinel-Record

JESSIEVILLE -- It was not a unanimous decision, but the Jessieville School Board voted to upgrade part of its football and track facilities after a tornado caused significant damage Jan. 2.

"Insurance came in and had an outside consultant walk through and based on what he saw they gave us some numbers," Jessieville Superintendent Melissa Speers said. "They have also said they realize they may not be what the actual numbers end up being. As we get these bids and get these working that the (board) approves we will get these to the insurance company, and they will adjust based on actual cost."

A grass field would have cost Jessieville $200,000, excluding the irrigation cost to repair the outdated watering system which sustained damage.

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"We would go in and cut 1 inch of sod off the field, laser grade, new subsurface and put super rolls of turf down," Moser Construction project manager Jay Davis said. "The drawback to that is they said, 'I can get you the grass down, laser graded but if you play on it this coming football season you will have to replace the sod when you get done.'"

Artificial turf was the final decision, which will bring a price tag of $1,030,381.

Moser Construction was chosen as the contractor for all the facilities that needed repair. Davis was in attendance to give insight to the board on all of the projects.

"That is the low price we have, including the additional cost of concrete in the D-Zones," Davis said. "The fill that would be required in D-Zones and extending the drain structure. Everything that has to be done to get it ready for the dirt. This is bringing the field up to track elevation."

Funds for the new football surface are coming from Jessieville's renovations account as their grass field was not covered by insurance.

The upside to switching to artificial turf is the field will be ready to use for this upcoming 2023 football season. Jessieville will save $170,000 in field maintenance over the next 10 years. GeoSport and Hellas have submitted bids for the project.

Jessieville plans to sell sponsorships and add space on its new field to recoup some of the overhead cost.

"We are not going to get a million dollars, but we will be able to recoup a little bit of that from them in sponsorships," Speers said. "Right now, we do not like anybody on our field during season. They do not practice on it. With this you can have PE, practice, and band can march on it and you are not worried about protecting the surface of your field for Friday nights."

The problem with laying natural grass would be after the season the field would have to be torn up and replaced again so the grass would have time to root properly, effectively costing the district more money.

The field was not the only thing on the docket as the new track, goalposts, visitors' side bleachers, field lights, scoreboard, fencing, press box and concessions building were also damaged in the twister.

Jessieville was near completion of its new track when the tornado hit.

The track is covered under the school's insurance policy and will cover the full amount of replacing the track's surface. The cost will be $302,698.

The Jessieville track teams have been using parking lots and traveling to Lakeside on occasions so their practices are not interrupted.

"If weather permits they have been going one or two days a week to Lakeside," Speers said. "Lakeside has been great to let us practice on their field. But yeah they have just been having to practice in the parking lot."

Moser will remove the rubber surface and laser the asphalt to determine whether or not areas need to be replaced. Moser will resurface the track with the same type of surface and will install new goalposts.

"At this point the field is guaranteed to be in by July 1," Davis said. "July 1 to Aug. 1 we want to be able to put the track down. We have to build mats across to get all this dirt we have to bring in. We will have to bridge and mat the track. It is going to limit what you can do until you get the turf down. Then you can go out and start the track."

The cost to replace the visitor-side bleachers will run at $258,431, and the insurance adjuster is still working on what the insurance will cover out of that damage. Stadium Pros is the vendor that will supply the materials for the bleachers, and they should arrive in July.

"Everyone we had bids from was going to purchase from Stadium Pros," Speers said. "So, we are just going direct to Stadium Pro to get those. The price that Stadium Pros is giving just covers the bleachers."

Jessieville will be erecting a new prefabricated press box located in the same spot as the old press box.

"We are recommending is what would be ideal," Speers said. "If we can get insurance to understand where we are going with it and to agree is that both of the press boxes are torn down. We bring in a three room prefab and center it in the middle of the bleachers. It will include a film platform on top."

The cost of the prefabricated press box will be $296,263 with the insurance money still to be determined. Going with the prefabricated option eliminates the need for an architect and engineer. The estimated completion date is July 1.

Jessieville will replace the lights around the stadium as well. Four new light poles will be installed that are 70-feet tall and run 10 feet into the ground. These new LED lights will provide the Arkansas Activities Association recommended lighting at all points of the turf for games.

"We are still negotiating with them on the price," Davis said. "In his original insurance numbers, he did not have the drilling, concrete and updated electrical cost. That added a little over $100,00 to the total cost."

The cost of the lighting is $376,343, and the district's insurance is covering $270,868. GeoSport has the current low bid on the project, and the lighting should be installed in July.

Jessieville currently has bids from Rainey Electronics, Ace Sports, Central Arkansas Sports and Hellas for its new scoreboard. The district has sent out its chosen design for updated bids.

"These numbers do not include anything with the electrical, substrate work, fees or bonds," Davis said. "Those will be added in. This is strictly for the scoreboard."

Jessieville must repair the fencing around the practice field and behind the visiting-side bleachers.

The concessions building was insured for $120,450, and the cost to repair the existing structure is $120,450. A new prefabricated replacement would run Jessieville $583,440. The board voted to repair the existing building.

"We will take a 12x12 metal plate and put it on each corner," Davis said. "We will run a cable across the building, all four exterior walls and suck in that building back together. Before we pull it back in together we will epoxy all the cracks and get everything back so it has something to bond too. On all the exterior walls we will build a 2x6 wall on the inside of the block structure."

All repairs and upgrades are due to be completed by Aug. 1 as the Jessieville School District starts the road to recovery and revitalization after the devastating tornado.

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