Marble Falls ISD trustees moved Monday, Sept. 15, toward getting two major projects under way – a new baseball field and improvements to several campuses.
The baseball field will be ready for play in the upcoming season but not all the facilities will be finished, Pfluger Architects told the school board.
The baseball field is part of the $12,515,000 segment of May’s $172,200,000 bond issue. That athletic segment also included, among other things, new turf for the softball field, turf replacement and a new scoreboard for Mustang Stadium and an addition to the Mustang Gym locker rooms.
Officials said the use of turf on the baseball and
softball fields would save money and water by eliminating the need to water the grounds. Also, they said, part of what a bond advisory committee discussed was “the possible loss of games due to the weather.”
The baseball field will feature a turf field, a combined baseball clubhouse with the home dugout and field storage, and a visitor dugout. The clubhouse will include concessions with storage, a custodial closet, and men’s, women’s, and family restrooms, architects noted.
The board also tentatively approved on first
hearing a proposal to hire Corgan Architects for architecture and engineering of playground improvements at the district’s elementary campuses: Spicewood, Marble Falls, Highland Lakes and Colt. The proposed cost would be $209,000.
Corgan’s headquarters are in Dallas but it has offices in Washington, New
York and Seattle among other cities, including Austin.
For that price, Stan Whittle, district Assistant Superintendent for Administration, noted, the architects would “visit each campus and document the existing playground conditions for accessibility, current condition of existing playground structures, condition of material used for existing soft fall playground material, existing borders and existing shade structures.”
But the board noted that Corgan was chosen by the staff without going out for bids, and asked why.
That could certainly still be done, Whittle said, and promised to have bids before trustees when the matter comes up for second hearing.
That should be at the board’s next meeting, Monday, Oct. 20, at 6 p.m. in the board meeting room, 1800 Colt Circle, Marble Falls.
