Bob Evans and Chris Hilmes both approached the Carlyle School Board on Wednesday, Nov. 20, to talk about athletic facility upgrades.
Evans has been volunteering to maintain the Carlyle athletic fields since 1964. Hilmes has experience in field maintenance at all levels from youth fields to professional fields and has been helping maintain the Carlyle athletic fields since 2022.
Carlyle is exploring the options of a turf field and an all-weather track.
Carlyle is planning a large renovation project and the athletic fields are just a portion of the work they have planned.
In the high school, they are looking to add a sprinkler system; replace interior doors; update all classrooms with new paint, lighting and ceilings; replace original student lockers; add air conditioning to the gym and locker rooms; paint the gym walls and ceiling; and additional work to the business lab, science classroom and old home economics classroom.
At the junior high, they are looking to replace a few of the exterior doors and add air conditioning to the gym and cafeteria.
At Carlyle Grade School, they are looking to add air conditioning to the gym; remove the existing stage and replace with a new stage area; replace basketball goals in gym; paint the gym walls and ceiling; and dirt work for a drainage issue on the north end of building.
The estimated cost for the entire renovation project is just more than $10 million. Just over $6 million is coming from bonds issued last year. The bonds were issued at a rate to keep their tax rate the same. The other $4 million is from investments over the past few years and saving in anticipation for the next phases of renovations needed for the buildings.
Evans said the softball field has seen major improvements. He said it was established in the mid 1960s as a field for physical education and summer slow pitch softball.
"It has taken a lot of work to get the softball field to where it is today," Evans said. "I just want to thank everyone who has helped get it to where it is today. It's just beautiful and we hope we can keep it that way."
Evans said the baseball field used to be where Carlyle Junior High School is now. It started with just a screen and benches. He said currently the baseball infield is in good shape, but the outfield is in bad shape.
"It's going to take some work to get that outfield back to where it once was," Evans said.
Evans said the football field used to be where the baseball field is now. The current football field was built in the early 1970s. He said the football field is currently in terrible shape and is rough and uneven.
Evans said something needs to be done about the football field, and going to a turf field might be the best option.
"You want to give yourself a good, level field that you are going to be proud of," Evans said. "And you want to do something to the football field that the public is going to be proud of."
Evans said the practice football field is in bad shape and he doesn't even know how the football team practices on it.
"It needs a lot of work to keep that," Evans said. "We just have to take care of what we have got and improve what we have got."
Hilmes, who runs Emerald Edge Lawns in Breese, said he has been involved in field maintenance at all levels — both natural grass and synthetic turf fields. He started working with Darin Smith and Evans at the Carlyle fields in 2022.
"Bob Evans is the type of person I have not seen at any of the other school districts I have been to," Hilmes said. "He is very dedicated to the baseball and softball fields like I don't see anywhere else. He takes a lot of pride in those diamonds, and it's obvious in his work."
Hilmes said he prefers a well maintained natural grass field over a turf field.
When Hilmes goes to evaluate fields, he looks at three main criteria.
The first criteria is safety. He said the board members know what they have got with the football and soccer fields. He said the baseball field outfield is starting to get sink holes and is unsafe.
The next criteria he looks at is playability and consistency. He said the football field has low spots and a higher crown. He said the soccer field is getting better and praised head coach Nathan Fruend for the work he has done to improve the soccer field. He said the baseball field infield is pretty consistent. He said the softball field is perfect.
The third criteria he evaluates is how the field looks. He said both athletes and the public take a lot of pride in a nice, well-maintained field. The players also tend to take things more seriously when they are playing on a well-maintained field.
Hilmes also talked to the school board about field maintenance costs. There are costs for chemicals and mowing.
There also is a painting budget. Between freshman, junior varsity and varsity games, there were 11 home games on the Carlyle football field this past fall. Hilmes said it takes about eight hours to paint the field. And it takes about 20 hours to paint the field for the first time of the year.
There were 12 home soccer matches. Last year there were 35 games played on the baseball field between junior high in the fall and high school in the spring. Last year there were 33 games played on the softball field from junior high in the fall to high school in the spring.
There also is a pre-game and a post-game budget. Hilmes said even with a synthetic field, you are still going to have game preparation costs and are still going to have an annual grooming and maintenance cost.
Hilmes said he has seen synthetic turf fields fail when they are not maintained in the first five years. He said by years seven or eight, that is when the fibers begin to deteriorate.
He said he was not going to get into the safety issue with synthetic fields and asked the school board members to do their own research in that area.
In terms of consistency, Hilmes said the soccer field has become a more consistent playing field. He said the football field has consistency here or there.
In terms of appearance, he said a synthetic field can produce a lot of pride the first year it is put in. But a synthetic field does deteriorate over time and could have to be replaced at some point.
Hilmes said a synthetic field may be more convenient and can be used for multiple purposes. But the more the field is used, the life expectancy is decreased.
"We just want to bring back the football field to a surface on the field that is going to be safe," Hilmes said.
If the board decides to go with a turf field, Hilmes suggested they put water taps in. He said playing in August during 90 degree days, a synthetic field could get up to 120 degrees.
Hilmes said the key to a healthy field — either grass or synthetic — is proper maintenance. Evans agreed with Hilmes.
"The only way to keep a grass field healthy is maintenance," Evans said. "And we want a nice, maintained field."
