Three Modesto City Schools stadiums will have a new look starting this year
The 2022 football season is just a week away, and two schools will welcome some changes to their stadiums. For the past month and a half, Gregori and Johansen’s stadiums have been undergoing major face-lifts to replace the grass with synthetic turf.
In addition to new turf, all-weather tracks will be installed at Johansen, Gregori and Downey High, which has a turf field but dirt track. The project for two new fields and three new tracks is estimated to cost $7.8 million.
The stadium turf and track conversion project was approved by the Modesto City Schools Board of Education on June 6. The contractor, Valley Precision Grading, will install turf at the two schools this fall for football, and tracks are set to be finished during the winter before track and field season starts. The first track and field contact date allowed by the Sac-Joaquin Section is Feb. 24.
“When we decided to do this, we knew the middle of August was our window for football games to start,” Associate Superintendent of Business Services Tim Zearley said. “We knew we had to get the field done first, and once we get that done, the track surface will follow.”
Clay cinder tracks also will be installed at Modesto’s four junior high schools by track season. Zearley says construction already is under way at Hanshaw and Mark Twain middle schools.
“We want to be able to offer tracks to our junior high schools and have the surface for PE activities.” he said.
Gregori and Johansen have Week 1 home openers. The Jaguars host Buhach Colony and the Vikings play Modesto High. Both games are scheduled to start at 7 p.m.
Construction at the high schools began in early June. After worries about delays, turf arrived in the last week of July and installation began at Gregori the first day of August. It is anticipated Gregori’s field will be finished by Week 1 on Aug. 19, while Johansen’s field is anticipated to be ready by Week 3.
Johansen and Modesto will play at Modesto Junior College on Friday night. Some teams play on Thursday nights, but the section’s first contact date is Aug. 19, meaning Week 1 games couldn’t be rescheduled for earlier.
Modesto High vs. Beyer, which was scheduled for Week 2 at Johansen, will be played at Downey High.
The renovation project won’t just benefit high school football. Stadium fields are used for youth sports, high school football and high school soccer. Synthetic turf is easier to manage than grass, which means they can be used at any time with little maintenance.
With three district stadiums for all seven high schools, all students will benefit from the renovations, whether they use the surfaces for interscholastic competition or P.E. class.
“Our fields and tracks, once completed, can be used for 365 days a year,” Zearley said. “Our fields can now sustain the demand of football and immediately go into soccer for both girls and boys without having to worry about field conditions due to wear or inclement weather.”
For the past few years, Central California Athletic League track meets have been split between Turlock and Pitman high schools because they had all-weather track surfaces. The CCAL championship has been held at Turlock Unified School District’s Joe Debely Stadium.
League commissioner Ed Felt said though they haven’t changed the schedule yet, having two more sites to host meets will help. When tracks at Gregori and Downey are completed, moving a meet to either school is “something that is easy to do.”
Soccer is a winter sport, and between the occasional weather concern and reseeding, grass fields sometimes become unavailable. Turf eliminates both problems.
“We’ll be able to host a number of matches at the three stadiums with turf in Modesto,” Felt said. “They won’t be muddy and they won’t need reseeding and all the seasonal things that occur after football season.
“Student athletes benefit from interscholastic athletics, and the best facilities should be available. There are more opportunities because the fields aren’t going under seasonal maintenance procedures and aren’t unusable because of weather conditions.”
This story was originally published August 12, 2022 at 6:30 AM.
