by POLLY KEARY, EDITOR

Bulldozers are once again moving earth at Monroe High School's three-year-old stadium, but this time it's to remedy drainage problems that kept fields soggy. Shortly after the stadium was constructed, district personnel noticed that the field wasn't draining well in certain areas. So the district hired an independent contractor to find out what was wrong.

That contractor determined that the earth beneath the turf was too compacted and dense to allow water to escape, acting more like concrete than a sponge. So the district approached the five contractors that had been involved in constructing the stadium.

At first, no one was willing to take responsibility, district officials said. But recently the contractors hammered out a deal with the school to replace the field, without going to court.
The repairs will cost about $784,000, and the district will pay a little more than $290,000 of that. The contracting companies involved with the construction will contribute labor, funds and materials.

Once an agreement was reached, contractors acted quickly in order to be finished in time to meet summer obligations, and repairs are already underway. But that has left soccer teams and track teams with no place to host meets this year, meaning a season of nothing but away games.

That's a frustrating return to the days before the school got the stadium, said track coach Traci Bianchini. "When I coached for Monroe from 1992-2000, we didn't have home meets at that time either because the dirt track at Monroe Stadium was so bad no other schools would come for a meet," she said. "Now, once again, track season (and boys soccer season) is affected by the resurfacing of the original incorrectly installed turf."

She would have preferred that the district wait until next winter, when the field is not in use, to complete the repairs. "Many of my senior athletes are very disappointed not to have a home meet this year," she said.

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