Edgewood Schools to upgrade stadium with turf, track

Edgewood was among the first of the Butler County school systems to install a synthetic grass sports field, but that turf is now 14 years old, which exceeds the lifespan of most artificial athletic surfaces.

The surrounding running track is also worn, they said.

“We are now at a point for the safety and wellness of our students, the turf and track must be replaced. The synthetic turf was installed over 14 years ago. Likewise, the track needs resurfacing. The district has budgeted accordingly to cover the necessary funds to address these needs,” said school officials.

They said the field and track handles more than 100 sporting and other events annually.

“Given the expansion of both boys’ and girls’ sports in recent years, we need to update our stadium. This could include but is not limited to LED lights, additional locker rooms, expanding the weight room and concession area, adding end zone bleachers, increasing storage, and a new gateway.”

The stadium field, which is on the campus of the former Edgewood High School and now middle school, is used year-round by boys and girls school teams, but also physical education classes and area youth, graduations and adult sports leagues, which pay to play on the surface.

Original installation costs for synthetic surface fields can range from $1 million to $2 million or more.

But replacing an existing plastic grass field is often less costly because the underlying foundation and drainage system are already in place.

Other Butler County school districts on their second-generation of turf fields include Lakota, Hamilton, Middletown, Fairfield, Talawanda and Monroe.

In 2019, Ross Schools unveiled its first synthetic sports field.

Last month Madison Schools, with the help of a grant from the NFL, installed its first turf field leaving only New Miami Schools still playing on natural grass.

Edgewood officials have not given a timetable for renovating the stadium complex.

In an earlier statement, Edgewood officials said: “Our goal is to work with community partners and businesses to make this renovation possible through a marketing campaign.”