District shows stadium upgrades and junior-high additions as part of multi-site facilities work

Fayetteville — Architects and district staff previewed a string of facilities projects at the board’s April meeting, including an upgrade to the Ramay track and field and additions to convert an existing building into the new JLS Colbert Junior High.

Build Architects principal Clay McGill described the Ramay project as a turf retrofit and site reconfiguration to provide an additional competition-quality venue without building separate stadiums at each junior high. Scope items include removal of sod, installation of a multi-use turf system with sport striping, relocation of existing bleachers, a roughly 960-square-foot storage building for athletics equipment, two new light poles to meet the 50-foot-candle center-field requirement, a new scoreboard and sidewalk and access improvements. McGill said mobilization was planned for early May and the turf portion would be usable for fall practice; bleacher relocation would follow in August to accommodate lead times.

Board members questioned seating capacity and restroom-code impacts for expanded bleachers; staff said the existing capacity is about 900 seats and adding bleachers would have triggered related restroom upgrades that made that option cost-prohibitive.

Lewis Architects vice president Clayton Baden presented additions for JLS Colbert that convert the campus from a middle school to a junior high. The south addition adds athletic spaces — football locker rooms, weight room, laundry, athletic training and coach offices — while the north end adds a safe room in compliance with the international building code, new science labs on the second floor and a secure courtyard and outdoor classroom area. Renderings showed netting and sightline studies for windows and practice areas.

No final vote was taken; architects said projects are on budget and on time and will return to the board as contract or GMP items when required.