Millam Field will soon be under construction
South Bend School District is slated for over three quarters of a million dollars in grant funding to apply toward the renovation of Millam Field at South Bend High School. The completed project will include a synthetic turf multi-sport playing surface and new LED lighting. The facility will be set up for football, soccer, and girls fast-pitch softball. Estimated completion is set for late August, 2021.
With the construction of the new Mike Morris Elementary School, the district lost the site of the former football/soccer practice field. That site also hosted several community youth soccer and youth football practices and contests. Because of limited space on campus, the board felt the district should have the goal of installing synthetic turf on Millam Field, which would allow multiple and repeated use activities that would typically be difficult for natural grass to withstand. With the large amounts of rainfall each year and the water-saturated grounds that follow, South Bend's new facility will allow for increased use and accessibility to school programs, physical education, community youth programs, and other recreational activities.
The project also includes new Musco LED field lighting. The current lights are obsolete, have annual maintenance issues and deteriorating wooden light poles. The new lighting will be installed using steel poles and will carry a 25-year full warranty, while saving electricity demand.
The school district obtained combined grant funding totaling $761,000 from the Ben B. Cheney Foundation and the Washington State Legislature's Capital Budget---additional grant funding is also in the works. Grant funding is slated to pay the majority of the field costs of approximately $1.3 million dollars. The lighting project will cost approximately $450,000. All additional monies needed will come from the district's capital projects fund, which include remaining grant resources from the recently completed elementary school construction project. No special levy or additional funds from district tax payers will be needed.
Rognlins Inc. will be the contractor used to install drainage and prepare the field for turf. Turf will be supplied and installed by SprintTurf, and architectural\engineering is provided by Harbor Architects of Aberdeen. Rognlins will break ground on May 19, 2021.
We want to again thank the Ben B. Cheney Foundation for their generous support of the district and our 19th District state delegation led by Representative Jim Walsh for helping to secure state capital budget resources. These investments will make a lasting impact on the students of South Bend School District and our South Bend community.
