Turf project nears completion in Norwalk

The finishing touches are being put on Contractors Stadium at the Warren C. Whitney Athletic Complex in the coming weeks. The field turf for the football field was installed last week, capped with the blue and red end zones with the Truckers and Flyers school nicknames to represent Norwalk and St. Paul High School. There is a white block 'N' at the center of the field. The installation of the surface for Fisher Titus Medical Center track was scheduled to begin today. The track will be tentatively finished by Friday, but will not be stripped until the beginning of September to allow the surface to cure. The digital scoreboard for the south end zone was expected to arrive at Lake Erie today, with installation of the scoreboard happening at the end of next week. Also going up last week were posts for the signage that will be erected behind the visitor bleachers. Nearly all of the updated black fencing around the track has also been installed. Norwalk athletic director Josh Schlotterer said local companies RockStar Concrete, D. Schaffer Construction, Smith Paving and Lake Erie Construction have been working on updating the main entrance to the facility at 17 St. Mary's Street, and the parking lot has been graded and significantly upgraded. Also being installed soon will be the flag poles, fresh landscaping, and signage to welcome the community and visitors to the venue. The turf installation itself was a tedious process that included an unexpected trip to Atlanta for the Geometry Turf crew. Some details on the turf installation included: — The turf material arrived on huge rolls, which where then put on a cart with a forklift and pulled into place behind a Gator vehicle. — Each roll of the turf material was five yards wide and 53.3 yards in length. The yard-line strip is in the center and is 2.5 yards in length either way to the edge. — With the exception of the first strip — the 50 yard-line — the turf material was laid out upside down. After the first stripe was laid down, the second one was pulled across the field, unrolling from the cart from the home sideline to the visitors' sideline — but not to the edge of the track. The sideline area itself is a different procedure. — A crew member who specializes in cutting the strip to the exact width of five yards then used a special tool to slice along a specific weave line all the way across, and another crew member gathered up the 53.3 yard remnant. — Crew members then took up positions along the upside-down edge and used a special clamp to pull the strip so that the two edges — the piece below and the piece on top — aligned perfectly (one atop the other). They moved along the entire 53.3-yard field width to make sure the edges matched and there weren't any wrinkles. — On either side of the 50-yard line, the turf is the same green; there were two colors for this installation. On either side of the 50, the turf is a darker green. Then the strips alternate between the dark green and a slightly brighter green. — Before the strip being installed was flipped over, it had to be sewn to the already-installed strip beneath it, which is why the edges have to match exactly. Christian Flores, owner of Geometry Turf, of Walla Walla, Wash. was the sewing technician for the installation. Flores used a special machine with two big bobbins of specialty green thread on a machine that is powered by both electricity and an air-compressor. — The crew started at 6:30 a.m. on July 25 and worked until midnight under the lights, with two separate one-hour breaks for lunch and dinner. They returned on July 26-27 to finish the installation. — Geometry Turf didn't get going on turf installation until July 25 because a couple of machines broke down and members of the crew had to drive round-trip to Atlanta (14 hours each way) to get them fixed. "When we started planning for this project almost three years ago, I had so much optimism that the Norwalk community would come together to transform our stadium to be something that we can all be proud of," Schlotterer said. "It has been amazing to see it first hand as everyone involved in the project has exceeded my expectations." Schlotterer and St. Paul athletic director and head football coach John Livengood both singled out the work done at the site by Lake Erie Construction's Matt Chapin. "He has brought all of the contractors together to unite for the good of the community and our schools," Schlotterer said of Chapin. "He has been the general contractor overseeing the entire operation. Without him, we don't get many of the projects that finishes off the stadium." Livengood is at the site getting ready for the season on a daily basis, as the St. Paul practice field is behind the visitor bleachers. "Watching the process and work that goes into it and the many volunteers that are down here helping and doing great things and Matt Chapin leading the way has been a sight to see," Livengood said. "Matt has been awesome, and the things he's done for the kids in this city are amazing. It's exciting to see the progress." On July 23, St. Paul had a camp day at the complex and said the volunteers and crews were out there working through the rain. "When you see that, it gets you excited to be a part of something like this," Livengood said. "You can't wait to be able to get on the field and see the finished product. It's really tough thinking all the time and work put into it and there is a possibility it might not happen this season. "That's kind of scary and frustrating. One of the things we remind our kids of all the time is you have to take advantage of every day you've got, and this another reminder of that." Livengood is referencing the status of high school football in the coronavirus pandemic. Many schools in Ohio have already delayed or canceled fall sports, though the OHSAA has told schools that can move forward with practices. The first scheduled game at Contractors Stadium is Aug. 28 when Norwalk entertains Mansfield Senior. St. Paul is set to host Fremont St. Joseph on Sept. 5. But the start of the season on Aug. 28 is yet to be approved by the Ohio Department of Health and Gov. Mike DeWine. The OHSAA said that the football season will start only if the state does not require COVID-19 testing. The latest OHSAA memo also said if contact sports are not approved for school-versus-school competition by Sept. 4, those sports would move to a condensed schedule that would take place between mid-December and the end of June 2021. "I look forward to watching the final few weeks of construction and ultimately opening it up for our schools for the football season," Schlotterer said. "I am optimistic that football will be played this year and we can celebrate all who have helped make this project a success."