Hoover school board sticks with decision to install polyurethane tracks

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The Hoover school board this morning confirmed its decision two weeks ago to install polyurethane track surfaces at Hoover and Spain Park high schools instead of a more expensive and higher-quality Mondo surface requested by track coaches and boosters.

Hoover schools Superintendent Kathy Murphy on April 10 recommended the polyurethane tracks but agreed to investigate the matter further after track supporters raised objections.

Murphy, in a special-called school board meeting this morning, said she and other school officials had met with a track expert and done research into track surfaces in the past two weeks. They reached a consensus that polyurethane tracks are the best choice for Hoover schools at this time, given the cost involved in Mondo tracks, she said.

A polyurethane track surface is expected to cost $325,958 at Hoover and $401,563 at Spain Park, while a Mondo track surface is estimated to cost $645,230 at Hoover and $818,605 at Spain Park, school records show. The total price difference is $736,314, combining both schools.

While the Mondo tracks would stay within the school system’s overall $3.5 million budget to install new football turf and tracks at both schools, Murphy said there are other capital needs throughout the school district that she has to consider. Those include replacements and repairs to roofs at four schools, heating and air conditioning systems at seven schools and parking lots at five schools, she said.

“Our tracks are important. Our athletic programs are important, but this isn’t the only bill we’re looking to pay this year,” Murphy said.

Also, two polyurethane tracks can be resurfaced in the future for $320,000, while Mondo tracks would have to be completely replaced, costing $1.46 million, Murphy said.

“There is no doubt that Mondo is an excellent surface, but there’s also no doubt that polyurethane is also a very excellent surface,” she said.

The current tracks at both Hoover and Spain Park are made of latex, so switching to polyurethane will be a significant upgrade from latex, Murphy said. Once the new tracks are installed, the Hoover system will be able to submit a bid to host the state track meet, she said.

Murphy and school board President Stephen Presley also refuted the idea that the football programs somehow got preferential treatment over the track programs. School officials looked at three options for artificial football turf and three options for track surfaces, they said. In each case, there was a “Cadillac” option, a “Pinto” option and a “middle of the road” option, and school officials chose the “middle of the road” option for both football turf and tracks, Presley said.

However, there was much less difference in price between the football turf options. The more expensive football turf would have cost $25,000 more at each school than the $480,374 option that was chosen, and the less expensive turf would have cost $15,000 less, said Tracy Hobson, the operations coordinator for Hoover City Schools.

Hoover High track coach Devon Hind said at the April 10 school board meeting that school officials wrote the specifications for the football turf in such a way that the football program got what it wanted, but the track program is having to settle for a lower-quality option.

Sonia Steely, treasurer for the Finish Line track and field booster club at Hoover High, told the school board this morning they were settling for a “pretty good” solution instead of seeking excellence. She said she is disappointed in the school board’s decision. “I think we deserve better.”

The track and field programs don’t ask for a lot, and the track at Hoover High has been neglected for years, she said.

Presley said if the Hoover school system in the future had a benefactor who wanted to donate a Mondo track, as Vestavia Hills did, that would be great. Or if the track boosters decide to raise money to pay the difference between a polyurethane track and a Mondo track, that would be an option, he said.

Steely said after the meeting that Hoover High boosters will indeed explore the idea of raising money to pay the difference at their school.

Murphy and Presley both emphasized that school officials also must pay additional money to mill down and redo the subsurface of the tracks to ensure a proper base. The current estimate for that work is $150,000 at each school, but it could turn out to be more once the contractor gets into it, Presley said.

School officials also have site prep work to do at each school, putting the total cost to install new turf and tracks at the two schools at $2.74 million.

Track supporters also had asked the school board to consider installing a steeplechase feature on the tracks that includes barriers to hurdle and a water pit.

Murphy said steeplechase is not a sanctioned event by the Alabama High School Athletic Association and likely won’t be anytime soon. However, the track coaches say there are summer track and field programs that include steeplechase that could enable Hoover schools to host summer track meets that bring in a lot of visitors to the city.

Murphy said she and Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato have agreed to analyze the return on investment that might come from the extra expense of a steeplechase feature.