Plans already have begun for installing artificial turf at North Augusta High's football stadium, but with practice and the season just four months away, having it on the field for the first kickoff could be challenging.
At a Tuesday meeting, the Aiken County School Board approved a plan to begin improvements at athletic facilities at all seven high schools in the district over the next three years for an estimated cost of $4 million.
Artificial turf at North Augusta is the top priority this year and is expected to cost $750,000.
"I don't want to say no right now, but knowing what goes into it, it is going to be a real challenge," said David Caver, deputy superintendent for the Aiken County Public School District. "We're moving in that direction, looking at it and wanting to get a real, true timeline. We're working on that as we speak."
School Board member Keith Liner, who represents the North Augusta area, said he is optimistic the artificial turf will be in place before the football season begins.
"I would like to see it done," he said. "I don't want to spend a lot of money to get the field into condition to play; so if it's possible, we're going to push to get it done."
Because North Augusta High has limited space for practice fields and multiple teams, and the band uses the stadium for practice also, the grass field deteriorates quickly and requires regular and costly maintenance.
The new turf will enhance the athletic experience for players and the band and their safety, too, said John Murphy, the principal at North Augusta High.
"They can run and cut and be tackled on a softer and safer surface," he said. "The performing arts also will have more chances to practice on the surface, should they choose to do so. We wouldn't have to worry about 200 or more band members standing on the surface because the turf will be able to handle that. It's a great improvement for our entire school ... and the community, because those Friday night football games are big events."
Brian Thomas, the North Augusta High athletic director, said the artificial turf will give his players "a complete game environment" during practice.
"We'll have our spacing and the proper hash marks because a lot of the stuff on the practice field we're painting ourselves, and it gets messed up very easily from practice and the weather," he said. "We'll get the proper dimensions, and we'll be able to see our practice work translate right into the game."
If artificial turf cannot be installed before football season begins, the School District will look at what projects might be moved up.
Track and stadium upgrades at Aiken High, track and lighting at Silver Bluff High, and field upgrades at Ridge Spring-Monetta High currently are scheduled for 2015-16.
Restrooms and the press box at Midland Valley High, restrooms at South Aiken High and a practice field at Wagener-Salley High are planned for 2016-17.
"North Augusta is the main focus right now," Caver said. "The plan is to get moving and see where we are in terms of a design and construction timeline (to install artificial turf at North Augusta High) and if it's doable. If not, we'll put it off until next summer.
"If not at North Augusta, we'll look at what we can get done this summer. There are some tracks that need resurfacing, and we could go ahead and do those or (at least) one of them."
The School Board approved using money from the bond premium it receives from bonds issued to fund its Five-Year Facility Improvement Plan each year to pay for the improvements, which are estimated to cost $4 million.
The bond premium is based on the district's high credit rating and low interest rates. For the fiscal year 2014-15, the School District received $1.5 million in bond premiums. Until this year, the bond premium has been added to the Five-Year Facility Improvement Plan for maintenance.
"It's taking unallocated bond premiums and using them to build up some of the athletics facilities that needed to be done," said School Board member Richard Hazen, who headed a subcommittee the School Board created to identify the top athletic facility needs at each high school and find a way to pay for the improvements. "This is not budgeted money. It had to be used for facilities. It cannot be used for salaries or anything else. This is all money that essentially has to be used for a one-time expense.
"It is money that has never been allocated until after we received it, and the Board just took a little of a leadership role, saying, for this next round of premium, this is where we want it to go."
Once the major improvements at athletic facilities are complete, the bond premium could be used for other district needs, Hazen said.
"Once we get the infrastructure completed in the schools for wireless, I wouldn't be surprised, if that money is still available, that it might be used for laptops," he said. "There are other things it can be used for. This time, it happened to be for athletics."
The plan passed Tuesday in a close 5-4 vote, and some School Board members said they needed more time to consider the plan, which the subcommittee put together in one week after talking to the athletic directors at each high school and the district's comptroller, before approving it. Their concerns include the safety and durability of artificial turf.
At a meeting March 10, School Board members defeated a motion that would have allowed the installation of artificial turf at North Augusta High to move forward by a vote of 5-4 and approved creating the subcommittee to look at the athletic facilities needs at all county high schools.
"I'm for athletics, but I just don't know if we've given this plan true thought," Ronnie West said at the meeting. "It feels like we've jumped in all of a sudden."
Wesley Hightower shared West's concern. "I support the final decision, but I felt we should have gotten additional information before we made a decision," he said.
North Augusta Star News Editor Scott Rodgers contributed to this article.
A native of Aiken, Larry Wood is a general assignment reporter.