ROCKINGHAM — After forcing a handful of athletic events to be moved this fall, the rebuilding of the track surrounding Raider Stadium was completed last week.
The project, which was started during the school’s summer vacation, finally wrapped up with the paint striping of the seven running lanes.
Terry Jordan, project manager with Hudson Paving, said there were a handful of unforeseen pitfalls along the way. One of the key things Jordan and his crew were forced to rectify was the length of the track, which measured just under 400 meters.
“This project had many challenges and obstacles to overcome,” Jordan said in an email to the Daily Journal. “In the end, we delivered a quality project that the athletes, students and fans can all be proud of for many years to come.”
The renovated track has six-inch wide concrete curbs on the inside and outside perimeters, three inches of asphalt and a half-inch of rubber mat coating on the running surface as well as on the long jump and high jump areas.
Richmond Senior athletic director Kevin Mabe didn’t have the exact figures on the cost of the project but believes the delays and the additional work raised the price of the construction from just over $225,000 to nearly $300,000.
“We finished right about where we expected,” Mabe said. “We figured we were going to have to play our nonconference soccer schedule at the Ninth Grade Academy and have it ready for the conference games. We had to flip one of our conference home games, but we finished pretty much on schedule.”
With the track completed, Mabe added there will be small rules and regulations regarding its use, but will still available for the general public to use for exercise.
The big thing Mabe wanted to stress is vehicles will no longer be allowed to drive on it. He admitted this could have posed a problem for the organizers and volunteers for the Relay for Life.
“I talked to them and they are going to make adjustments to how they do things,” Mabe said. “They completely understood.
“I think once the community walks and runs on it, they will see how nice it is. We want to prolong the life of the track for as long as we can.”
— Sports editor Shawn Stinson can be reached at 910-997-3111, ext. 14, or by email at sstinson@heartlandpublications.com.
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