Jim Thorpe reviews turf field proposal, sponsors

The current price tag for a synthetic turf field in Jim Thorpe Area School District stands at $1.7 million, but two local health care providers are jockeying for a sponsorship opportunity that could significantly trim what the district would have to put toward the project.

Keystone Sports Construction, one of the contractors hoping to be tabbed for the job, presented a preliminary design to the school board and Jim Thorpe residents during a meeting Wednesday night.

“The goal is to start the project after graduation and have it ready for the fall sports season,” said TJ Garritano, Jim Thorpe board member and athletic committee chairman.

Garritano said the natural grass field, which has major drainage issues, has been replaced several times. After seeking corporate sponsors, he currently has the area’s two major health care providers, Lehigh Valley Health Network and St. Luke’s University Health Network, pitted against each other for that right.

Lehigh Valley has proposed putting $500,000 toward the cost of the field, paid out over 12 years, and $320,000 toward athletic services such as performance coaches and nutrition specialists to work with students.

“If a player gets hurt, our sports medicine provider is going to step in and set up all his appointments and a rehabilitation schedule,” Garritano said. “None of that is on the parents anymore.”

Under the partnership, students would no longer have to pay for physicals to participate in athletics. There would also be internships available should any students pursue a sports medicine career.

The district is currently waiting on a proposal from St. Luke’s.

“We’re also working with a second, non-health care sponsor,” Garritano said.

Other sponsors

Jim Thorpe is also getting information from one other potential contractor other than Keystone Sports Construction.

If selected as the contractor, Russell Lyddane, partner with Keystone, said his company would dispose of all soils off-site, bring in stone and install a large drainage system underneath the field, which would come with a 10-year warranty. That system includes a 238-by-108-foot, 2.5-foot deep infiltration bed.

The design brings the pole vault inside the stadium so that all track events, with the exception of shot put, javelin and discus, are held inside the stadium and utilize the grandstands in place.

The current design shows a red turf, but Garritano said the district could switch to green at a lesser cost if desired. Lyddane said the cost difference between green and red is about 20 to 25 cents per square foot.

Director Raniero Marciante said he would like to see the 54-inch reinforced concrete pipe underneath the field rerouted completely outside the turf.

“If that pipe becomes an issue down the line and we have to tear up the field to get to it, it is going to be very costly,” he said.

Water problems have been the main issue at the current field, and Lyddane assured the district that the Department of Environmental Protection would highly scrutinize the design to make sure things are done correctly.

Jim Thorpe scheduled another board meeting for Feb. 19, but director Glenn Confer said he’d like to see more movement on the field’s financing before committing to supporting it.

“I’m not in favor of putting the burden on taxpayers if we don’t get the money,” Confer said. “It’s nice to have a field, but it is costly.”

Cost rising

When the district looked into a turf field last year, the cost estimate was $1.2 million. The increase since that point, Lyddane said, is due mostly to the cost of stone, which he said has skyrocketed in the region. That is one of the reasons Garritano said the time is now for this project.

“The cost isn’t going to go down next year,” he said. “There is no guarantee this corporate sponsorship will be on the table next year. It’s not a problem we can keep kicking down the road. It should have been fixed years ago. We’re living with the sins of the past.”

Jim Thorpe hopes to also use the field for band competitions, youth football and other events, as well as being open for people to use the track.

“The biggest issue with our field right now is stormwater management, and this proposal nails it on the head to deal with the water,” Jim Thorpe soccer coach Mike Dudak said. “These fields bring in between $20,000 and $30,000 in income per year to the owner because of the other events it can host outside of our sporting events. This health care sponsorship is an absolutely amazing opportunity, and I hope we can take advantage of that.”

Interim business manager Joseph Surridge presented the board with two bond options. Both involve borrowing $1.74 million, but the first pays it back in 10 years with smaller payments for the first nine and a balloon payment of $1.8 million in the final year, while the second has them making level $230,000 payments over nine of the 10 years.

The first option would have the district paying out a total of $2.2 million, including interest, while the second option would be $2.06 million.

Lyddane also addressed any concerns about a potential link between synthetic turf and cancer that surfaced in Washington state several years ago.

“Washington state came out six months later and had an 84-page study that forensically went through everything and determined there is zero correlation between turf and cancer among its town,” he said. “Those test results are available for the public.”