McKinney ISD prepares football fields for summer refreshes

Three McKinney ISD campuses will receive new synthetic turf on their sports fields next summer.

Evans and Scott Johnson middle schools will receive updates to the field used for football and soccer as part of the 2021 bond package. The project will include removing the existing grass field, moisture conditioning and lime stabilization of the existing soil, installation of a subsurface drainage system and compacted gravel layer and installation of a shock attenuation pad, according to school board documents.

Lime stabilization prevents the soil beneath the fields from drying out, which would cause the field to shrink, Chief Operations Officer Greg Suttle said at a November board meeting. The shock attenuation pad helps prevent concussions when players hit the turf.

Hellas Construction will complete both of the fields, which will be lined for football and soccer. Installation at Evans costs just over $1.63 million and the Scott Johnson project costs about $1.61 million.

Evans’ field is slightly more expensive because it requires an extra foot of moisture conditioning beneath the turf, Suttle said.

Scott Johnson Middle School will also receive new HVAC units next year as part of the 2021 bond package.

Hellas Construction will also replace the existing synthetic turf at McKinney North High School’s football field in summer 2022. The original turf was installed in 2012, and it has become worn with several breaks at each end, Suttle said.

In addition to the new turf, the project will include installation of a shock attenuation pad, which the current field does not have.

The total cost of the project is a little more than $751,600.