A facelift for the New Hope soccer field is scheduled to begin in the next two weeks.
Along with replacing worn-out wooden bleachers with new aluminum seating, Magnolia State School Products Inc. is contracted to add chain-link fencing and exterior sidewalks to the facility. Magnolia also will widen the field to meet soccer specifications.
“It”s currently the old football field,” explained Neil Waggoner of JBHM Architects. Joey Henderson of JBHM is the Lowndes County School District”s board architect.
The field”s current bleachers are 30 years old, and the soccer team shared a field with football from the early ”90s until 2004, when the football team moved to a new stadium.
The project is slated to be complete by September.
“That”ll be in time for soccer season to start (in October),” Waggoner said.
In addition to bleachers — Magnolia will create seating for up to 200 on the home side and 100 on the visitors” side — sidewalks and fencing, the renovation includes adding remote-control capabilities to the current scoreboard.
Initial estimates put the project at about $105,000, excluding sidewalks, but bids came in higher.
Magnolia State of Columbus had the low bid with $132,216 for the total project, $13,721 of which is for the sidewalks.
Stadium Pros Inc. of Red Bay, Ala. submitted a bid of $154,700, $17,000 of which was for the sidewalks.
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