A local school district's new football stadium will be done ahead of schedule and could be put to use as early as this weekend.

The Durand-Arkansaw School District said its stadium was expected to be done on September 1st but now it looks like all major construction should be wrapping up by the middle of August.

The district said the Durand Panthers are already planning on taking to the field for a short practice this Saturday.

“We're really working hard towards the process; I'd say we're at about 75-percent to 80-percent right now,” said Superintendent Greg Doverspike.

The project has been in the works since a capital campaign kicked off in December but Doverspike said the project has come to life with an updated plaza, main entries and a new turf field.

“We added a shock pad underneath it and it's designed as an athlete falls to the ground it kind of pushes out and minimizes that impact to always exceed the minimum level of safety,” he explained.

Doverspike said when the bleachers are completed they should be able to fit 1,500 spectators; he also said the press box should be put in later this week.

“Then we have to do the scoreboard which is coming early next week and all the signage,” said Doverspike. “That will take about a week. After that it's rubberizing the track and then we have some touch up cement and asphalt to do along with fencing. So a lot of it is touchup work that comes all at the end and has to be all in sequential order to make it happen.”

With the project ahead of schedule Doverspike said it will not only be open to the Durand panthers soon but to the community as well.

“This is really designed to be a facility that's going to be used by the community and we had great support from our community to make it happened,” he added

Doverspike did say that if the community is curious and wants to check out the field before it is completed everyone should be aware of the construction taking place.

 

Source: weau.com

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