Lakin Bronc Football will be back in action next fall but the Friday night lights could look much different.
“It’s going to be something cool and something our community can be proud of moving forward. We have phenomenal facilities here at Lakin High School.” High School Varsity Head Football coach Chris Bamberger said. “Our gym is something that everyone is really proud of. You add another improvement to what we have now, I think it’s something that we can build upon and be proud of and really appreciate having around here.”
The turf will be done by Mammoth Sports Construction who have done projects for Numerous schools in Kansas and other states.
“When people think of turf, they think it's just for football. This is going to be for our entire school.” said Activities Director Nate Schmitt. “A lot of times we invest a lot of time and money into making our football field look nice but we are told to stay off of it. With this, it can be utilized at any time. We’re going to be able to utilize this for classes, band, sports, youth sports, community use as well.”
USD 215 is looking to cut maintenance costs on the football field by converting the stadium to artificial turf. In western Kansas, water is an extremely precious commodity and they are looking to cut down on the unnecessary use of water.
“It will save at least $35,000/year in water. We have not done a calculation on the maintenance but in terms of fertilizer and paint, I would guess at least $10,000 and with mowing time.” Says superintendent Dr Martin Stessman. “We will take the existing well water and route that to the main campus and that’s where the greatest deal of savings will occur. They’ll be able to practice on it so they won’t have to pay to water the practice field as well. But the water that currently waters the field will be moved to the High School campus.”
The project is expected to be completed before the start of the 2021/2022 school year.