Turf War: Paragon edges Hellas for Mustang track, field
Contributed/marblefallsisd.org
MFISD selected a contractor for the replacement of the Marble Falls High School Mustang stadium field and track. The current surface has been used since 2009 and has suffered wear and tear.
Nathan Hendrix
Sports Editor
The Marble Falls Independent School Board selected a provider to replace the artificial grass and resurface the track at Mustang Stadium at the monthly school board meeting last week.
The current surfaces at the stadium have been in use since 2009, and the field shows noticeable signs of wear-and-tear. Some areas of the field have more granulized black rubber than green turf visible.
After a long selection process, the district committee narrowed their decision down to two companies – Paragon Sports and Hellas Sports.
“It was really close,” Superintendent Dr. Chris Allen said. “We could have almost flipped a coin.”
The district reached out to the two companies and asked for a “best and final offer,” and selected Paragon Sports after looking at the final numbers. Paragon's final offer was nearly $100,000 less than the Hellas offer.
Allen said the field will be similar to the one currently in use at Mustang Stadium.
“The most dramatic visual change we're discussing is a grey track with purple lines,” he said. “We want to get that red out of there.”
The designs call for the track to use 14mm sandwich-type track – designs that Allen called a “significant upgrade” over the current design. He said discussions with MFISD track coaches led to the agreement that such an upgrade was necessary to host high-level track meets.
Even with the upgrades, Allen said the numbers are arriving “well-below projected budget,” and he still needs to enter into final negotiations with Paragon to work out details.
The committee, that included Allen, board members Larry Berkman and Kevin Virdell and athletic director Rick Hoover, visited several area tracks and fields to sample examples the design team could emulate. . . Read more of the story in the Tuesday, April 2 issue of the The Highlander.
Check out comprehensive area sports coverage in The Highlander, the newspaper of record for The Highland Lakes. To offer a comment or news tip, email nathan@highlandernews.com.
