Waco ISD’s plan to renovate and relocate the 59-year-old Paul Tyson Field remains in the initial stages, but officials are hoping to move into the design phase by July.
During a virtual school board meeting Thursday, Waco ISD Superintendent Susan Kincannon said the $9.5-million project is “still in the conceptual phase.” But Waco ISD hopes to have the project completed within the next 15 months.
“Our goal is to transition to a design phase in the July–August time frame, start working through bidding and move into construction, ultimately looking at an August 2021 completion, as it will allow students for the 2021-22 school year to start on a brand new facility at Paul Tyson Field, on site at the campus,” said Jarrod Sterzinger, the principal architect for contractor O’Connell-Robertson, in a video presentation to the Waco ISD board.
The Paul Tyson Field replacement project is part of a broader joint venture between Waco ISD, the City of Waco and McLennan County that in part includes replacing and moving the Lake Air Little League Fields. Currently those fields sit across from Waco High School adjacent to New Road, but an early proposal of the project unveiled Thursday showed those Lake Air fields moving to an area just north of the school across Trice Avenue.
In his presentation, Sterzinger said that O’Connell-Robertson’s architects have held several meetings with Waco ISD athletic director Ed Love and his staff, working through various programming details to understand the requirements of the field. Sterzinger said that the design team has also conducted on-site tours of Paul Tyson Field to evaluate the existing facilities, including the locker room.
Paul Tyson Field primarily hosts high school and middle school track meets and middle school football games, but also serves as the home football venue for some private school teams, including Vanguard College Preparatory Academy.
The other, more immediate project related to Waco ISD athletics that the board discussed Thursday was a plan to replace the turf at the 20-year-old Waco ISD Stadium. That project has a construction cost of $406,755. Sterzinger said that a bid was received this week and that O’Connell-Robertson is “currently making evaluations on the materials and systems that the suppliers have provided, and are providing that information to Waco ISD for a recommendation.”
Plans are to begin construction by July but possibly as early as June, so that the turf would be installed and ready for use by the start of the 2020-21 school year in August, Sterzinger added.
—WACOTRIB
