Matthew Cooper, Superintendent of Habersham County Schools, and Geep Cunningham, Athletic Director, are commenting on the Board of Education’s approval Monday night of the study of needed upgrades to the system’s football stadium.Cooper said the committee, which has met three times, is studying the need for – and feasibility of – stadium upgrades. He also referred to a recent Strategic Plan survey, in which “the community identified maintaining athletic fields and facilities as a top priority.” The committee, in its meetings, “has determined that the primary need for an upgrade centers around student safety and on the current condition of our field at Raider Stadium.”
The field at the stadium is 45 years old, he said, with an irrigation system that “presents safety issues.” The field is not level, and the track around it isn’t level, either.
The Board of Education and the public heard in Monday night’s meeting from Director of Facilities and Mainteance Denise Gunn that the track cannot be used for track competitions because it does not meet current standards. One of those standards, Cooper said, is having 8 running lanes, and the current track has only 6. The stadium also has insufficient lighting in certain areas.
Safety issues of the playing field result in part from compaction of the soil that has occurred over time, Cooper said. In addition, the field itself does not drain properly. Replacement of the current grass with artificial turf could result in a safer playing field, he said. “According to the American Journal of Sports Medicine, fewer injuries occur on turf fields.”
Funding for the stadium improvements will be determined by the Board of Education after cost information for a variety of improvements is gathered by the study committee. “The total cost for the project will be a primary factor for determining how to fund the project,” Cooper added.
Athletic Director Geep Cunningham said the study committee, of which he is a part, met in his office Tuesday morning. It was determined that the Request for Proposals and Request for Qualifications for the project will be posted on the school system’s web site, www.habershamschools.com, by Wednesday morning. Board of Education member Don Corbett said he can offer the names of a number of websites where the project requests could be posted.
Cunningham said Tuesday that he looks forward to “the opportunity to give to our kids something that is very needed and that they could be very proud of also.”
The facility upgrade would be something “many people would be touched by,” he added – including “band students and physical education classes as well as recreational department teams throughout Habersham County.” Superintendent Cooper also said that the upgrade would benefit “graduation ceremonies, Special Olympics, JrROTC” and also “the community at large.”
