DHS Field Project on Target, Committee Says

Spectators and players will enjoy the new $3.1 million athletic complex when the football team is ready to kick-off their season, according to School Building Rehabilitation Committee members.

Project officials said the two major hurdles to meeting a Sept. 7 deadline for a fully complete project are the wiring of the lights for the field and the delivery and set-up of the bathroom facilities.

Committee chairman Andy Lawlor said after the meeting that if the lights aren't ready, the game could be played Saturday, and he hopes to be able to open the field even if there aren't bathroom facilities ready.

The also will house the electrical room for the lights, said project manager Jim Byrne. 

"The priority is to have the field accessible for the first game with lights. If we have toilets, for me, that will be a bonus," Byrne said.

Bleachers and the press box will begin to go up next week as construction crews are pouring footings this week. The asphalt for the pavement will go down on July 22, and the surface roughly two weeks after that, officials said.

Byrne added that light poles could go up as early as this week, and the turf field could be installed Monday.

"We have made up some time," Byrne said.

The committee also is working to secure roughly a $30,000 gift from a yet-to-be-named donor to pay for a new scoreboard - originally tops on the committee's list of alternative additions, Lawlor announced Tuesday.

"There is reason to be optimistic," Lawlor said. "There are still some issues that need to be worked through."