Football, band, track and soccer participants at Texas High will have all new fields to play and practice on in the fall of 2018.
Work began a couple of weeks ago and will continue throughout the summer to replace grass fields at Tiger Stadium and Texas High School with turf, a project expected to be complete in August. Texas High will also receive a new eight-lane track, and turf will be replaced at the multipurpose facility.
Last month, Texarkana Independent School District's Board of Trustees approved a $2.6 million bid from Hellas Construction for the work.
Funds for the project come from $5 million made available through a maintenance tax note trustees approved in February for districtwide improvements. Approval of the note did not increase the district's taxes, which remain at $1.425.
"By the middle of August, it will be done and ready for football, soccer and band competitions," Superintendent Paul Norton said. He added that the grass was replaced because of the costs of maintaining it.
"We were the only school around left with real grass. Everybody has gone to turf," he said. "Turf has gotten to the point where it's cheaper. There's no maintenance on it. With grass, there's watering, painting and upkeep costs."
He said that the grass at the stadium had to be painted once a week or more, depending on the weather.
"This will eliminate the man hours required to maintain the field," Norton said. "It is a huge benefit because it frees up our maintenance and support staff to do things on other campuses rather than maintaining the field during football season."
The seven-lane track at Texas High will be replaced because it was not conducive to hosting track meets.
"We will have an eight-lane track and can host lots more events at that facility," he said. "This way, it will meet UIL specifications for hosting track meets." He added that they have not held the Watty Myers meet there for the past couple of years because it is only seven lanes.
TISD's Chief Operating Officer Casey Nichols said they were looking forward to students using the new fields for their activities.
"This is a really good opportunity for the district and for the kids and getting us on the level playing field with everybody else," he said. "We're really excited about the opportunity to get this done."
The remainder of the $5 million will be used for other projects, including renovation of the construction technology building into a multi-functioning dance studio for use by the dance and drill teams. It will also be used as a testing center and will house TigerVision. Band uniforms will be replaced and technology will be increased districtwide.