Athletic complex vote coming Monday

The proposed artificial turf athletic complex at Cloquet High School is expected to cost $4.9 million, the school board learned Wednesday.

Meeting with contractor Kraus-Anderson during a committee of the whole gathering at Garfield School, the board seemed to have an appetite for the project and its costs.

Board members had been asking for financial and design specifics for weeks, during what has been an accelerated design and planning process.

What started as a community conversation last spring could see construction this summer and yield new amenities as soon as October — though administrators have been cautioned to prepare for a fall without use of the football and soccer field and tennis courts.

“We are getting a $5 million project here for about $2.715 million in district input and no direct impact to taxpayers,” superintendent Michael Cary said, reassuring board members that no taxes will be raised to fund the project.

The board is expected to vote on the project, as well as a lucrative naming rights deal, at its regular meeting at 6 p.m. Monday.

Rapid progress on the proposal has been aided by a 20-year, $1.25 million sponsorship proposal from Members Cooperative Credit Union. The money would be used to pay for the turf along with an additional $300,000 toward a new video scoreboard.

“We were extremely fortunate to find a sponsor, period,” said board member Dave Battaglia, sitting in as chair for the absent Nate Sandman.

The credit union’s name will be emblazoned into turf along the home team’s sidelines in two places facing the bleachers at what is now Bromberg Field. That name would be memorialized in a plaque, but retired in favor of MCCU’s contribution to what would become Members Cooperative Credit Union field, or “complex,” according to the contract being voted on Monday.

The district is already approved by the state to use $1 million in federal pandemic relief funds to help fund the project, and would bond across 15 years for $2.715 million for the remainder of the project.

This week’s two-hour meeting saw board members pepper Cary with questions. He said he’d spent sleepless nights preparing for the board members’ inquiries.

The superintendent recommended the district go with an added layer of the sand and rubber pellet infill used in conjunction with the artificial grass. It’s a $67,300 increase in cost to the $591,700 turf package, but one Cary recommended to help curb injuries.

“More sand and rubberized pellets makes it a more forgiving surface for players,” Cary said.

Cary urged adding electrical infrastructure to the proposed eight new tennis courts, so that spotlights could be added in the future. He also recommended widening a proposed 8-foot pathway between the courts to 20 feet so that spectator bleachers could be brought in one day, in order to make the courts a potential tournament location.

Tennis coaches in attendance at the meeting encouraged the addition of the broader pathway and electrical infrastructure, saying there is a lot of nighttime activity by community members.

“(The courts) get used a lot at night in the heat of the summer,” said Jim Tomhave, assistant coach of the school’s boys tennis program.

Part of the costs being considered included $190,000 in contingency money, in case of construction surprises. Board members also bandied about the possibility of using some of the district’s $5.3 million fund balance.

“We’re saving it for a rainy day, and we never seem to get rained on,” Battaglia said.

“I’m more comfortable being under $4.95 million,” board member Sarah Plante Buhs said, putting a ceiling on wants associated with the project.

Cary noted the project originally started at $4.5 million before soaring higher when contractors started weighing in with various estimates. Some of those early costs have shrunk considerably, Cary added, as design details have narrowed and gotten into specifics.

“We’re getting more for our money,” he said, describing how the project ended up being “much nicer” than first dreamed.

Only the current bleachers will remain untouched by the work, which features eight new track and field lanes along with new jumping and throwing pits.

Kraus-Anderson and a host of subcontractors would be able to get to work on ordering materials as soon as the board votes Monday, Cary added.

“It looks like a pretty nice field, right?” Gary “Hawk” Huard said, seeming to telegraph which direction the board was headed.