23 September 2016

Kalispell’s high schools do not need a gold plated football field

They just need a smooth, reasonably flat, field of soft, natural, grass — Kentucky bluegrass or perennial ryegrass — where their biggest and most brutal boys can break and sprain ankles, twist and tear knees, and incur concussions, to entertain the bloodthirsty fans in the cheap seats. Resurfacing and reseeding the field once a decade shouldn’t cost more than $25,000, and probably would cost less.

So why does School District 5 want the taxpayers to approve a $960,000 bond on Legends Stadium?

Legends Field in October, 2013. Much larger image.

It’s not to level and reseed the field. That would take only a couple of days. A football field is 57,600 square feet, one and one-third acres. Golf course quality perennial ryegrass seed to cover one square foot costs 2–2.5 cents at home improvement centers. Thus, the seed cost for 100,000 square feet of new grass at Legends would be approximately $2,500. Add to that a few thousand for labor, and for bulldozer and equipment rental. Would leveling and re-grassing the field cost as much as $25,000? I doubt it.

So why does the district want almost a million dollars for the football field?

Answer: for athletic empire building. Most of the money is for installing an expensive drainage system, rebuilding the bleachers and purchasing portable bleachers (so that more tickets can be sold), and constructing a building for officials (an old travel trailer with a shower would do). The district’s athletic czars want a field that withstands many events, and bleachers that seat many spectators. They’re thinking big — and they’re trying to bully big money from the little taxpayers.

Instead of asking for so much money for a gold plated football field, the district should (1) request $25,000 for leveling and reseeding the playing surface, (2) allocate ticket revenues to a surface refurbishment fund, and (3) rename the place Concussion Flats Stadium to recognize the true nature of the brutal activity that occurs there under the bright lights in autumn.