PORT ANGELES — If something isn’t done soon at Civic Field, Friday night high school football games will be a thing of the past, boosters of stadium improvements told a Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce crowd Monday.
Civic Field, which hosts at least four sports, desperately needs about $7 million worth of work to bring it up to standards for safety, accessibility and usability, but supporters of the playing field complex will settle for $4 million, Steve Zenovic, a Port Angeles engineer and member of the Civic Field Steering Committee told about 80 people attending the chamber’s weekly luncheon meeting at the Red Lion Hotel.
The stadium’s most immediate needs are an artificial turf field, new light poles and lights and a new boiler, Zenovic said.
“It’s starting to drop lights every once in awhile,” he said of the 40-year-old facility.
In some places along the railing at the front of the stadium, the cement is starting to break out from around the support poles, he said.
The lights are among the worst of the field’s problems.
In three to five years, the lights will be unsafe to use, and there will be no more night games unless they are replaced, City Manager Kent Myers said.
On April 3, the Port Angeles City Council heard arguments for putting a proposed $4 million bond question on the Aug. 19 ballot.
It is expected to make a decision during its meeting at 6 p.m. April 17 in the City Council chambers at City Hall, 321 E. Fifth St.
The bond would cost city property owners 18 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation and would replace existing bonds that will soon expire, including the library bond and the senior center bond, resulting in little or no increase in overall tax bills, Zenovic said.
Port Angeles players are in increased danger of injury on the field, which often has holes that can cause players to trip or twist ankles and is a very hard surface, he said.
“The playing field is a morass in winter and unusable. We want to increase its usage by at least 100 percent,” he said.
The field puts the teams that use the field at a disadvantage, he said.
The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association will not allow playoff games to be held on natural grass turf, so local teams must travel to the closest artificial turf fields, even when they are the host teams, Zenovic said.
A Port Angeles artificial turf field would mean that North Olympic Peninsula schools from Neah Bay to Port Townsend could play their playoff games closer to home, he said.
It would also bring in revenue from visiting players who stay at local hotels and eat in local restaurants during such trips.
The committee decided that about $3 million in other improvements, such as replacing seating in the stadium, a batting cage, a public address system, an updated kitchen and restroom facilities, handicapped accessibility, parking redesign and fixing ongoing drainage issues are less urgent.
“We decided the kids’ safety is more important than their parents’ comfort,” Zenovic said.
An overall improved facility could also be used to host large outdoor concerts, he said.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
