One of the busiest sports fields in Blount County could soon be brighter and busier.
Everett Recreation Center’s lower athletic field could feature artificial turf instead of natural grass by the time the next football season starts in the fall. Maryville-Alcoa-Blount County Parks and Recreation staff are also weighing the costs of installing turf at the complex’s upper field, though that’s currently a secondary focus.
The lights around the lower field might shine a little brighter next season, too.
The Blount County Board of Commissioners’ recently signed off on using $75,530 from the county fund balance to design changes at the recreation center.
Athletic Surfaces Pro, a firm that had previously partnered with Parks and Recreation, is now coordinating cost estimates and design concerning the synthetic turf, new lighting and next steps for the project with Arkansas-based Frontier Engineering.
Parks and Rec Director Joe Huff said he expects a bid process for the project to begin around the middle of March. A final cost estimate, he said, could include both of the rec center’s athletic fields.
Turf
The funding commissioners signed off on will support the documentation needed ahead of the bid process, Huff said during a county meeting this month.
Participation in area rec programs has grown in recent years, Huff told The Daily Times on Thursday, Feb. 22. And a heavier volume of people on Everett’s fields through the spring, summer and fall means grass grows more sparsely there, leaving Parks and Rec a little wary about users’ safety.
Artificial turf would allow more people to play more often on the field, he said.
Between 130 and 140 games are played on the field each year, Huff said during the meeting with county commissioners. “We play late spring, early summer. We play fall, which is growing season.”
“Basically, these fields don’t have any time to recover from our play, and it’s just overused,” he said. Now, Parks and Rec has to rotate events because of the condition of the grass, another issue Huff said the synthetic turf would resolve.
About 1,300 youth soccer players, 230 flag football and 550 tackle football players use the fields at Everett, he said.
Athletic Surfaces Pro is working on putting together bid specifications for the project. If things go according to plan, turf installation could start in late May or early June. It could conclude in late summer or early fall, Huff told the newspaper Thursday.
Lights
Replacing decades-old lights is another major priority for Parks and Rec. Safety is a concern there as well. About 35 years after they were installed, the lights can’t adequately illuminate much of the field, Huff told the newspaper.
Commissioner John Giles also expressed qualms about the field’s lighting. “The lights are dangerous now,” Giles, who coaches at the rec center, acknowledged during the February meeting.
Huff agreed, commenting that Parks & Rec had aimed for new field lights for several years.
In the end, he told the newspaper, the project’s scope “comes down to costs.” Fencing around the field will be included with the project. Updates to the restrooms — meant to improve accessibility — are also possible, he said.
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