Last year, The Hoofprint reported on the refresh that was soon to come to the Stuart B. Allen track. However, over the summer, the expected schedule was forced to be delayed. The original proposal had work on the track beginning in May, with plans to finish by the start of the Outdoor Track and Field season. The delay has impacted numerous fall sports that play at Gus Purcell Stadium, with uncertainty about the ability to host home Football and Soccer games hanging over the start of the respective teams seasons.
The renovations were planned to start following the conclusion of the Women’s Soccer season, with work running over the summer. The original summer-based schedule was designed to allow for minimal impact to fall sports schedules, so workers would not have to navigate around students and sports teams. However, over the summer when it was time to begin work on the project, a string of issues occurred. First, funding originally approved for the track was taken out and diverted to other projects around CMS. “New money for the school fiscal year doesn’t start until July 1,” Myers Park Athletic Director Brian Poore said. “We had to wait until July 1 and new money to come in before we could get approved again.” To add to this, the track ended up costing more than expected due to work on the trees on the North end of the stadium and fencing and retaining walls around the complex, meaning the district had to allocate more funding to the project. Around the same time, CMS also moved to a new financial system, holding up the process for another couple of weeks. These delays meant that by August, work still hadn’t been started. “We told [the construction company], ‘we’ve moved everything off the schedule until for soccer and football through October. We want to be back for October 3rd (Homecoming).’” By mid-August, however, work still had not started on the two month long process of replacing the track.
The project was forced to be put on hold, as moving the October home sporting events would be impossible considering the significant contribution which their ticket sales add to the athletic department budget. Work on smaller parts of the project, like clearing trees at the north end of the stadium, could occur during the fall sports season, but work on the actual track was forced to be delayed.
Fall sports could run through the middle of November (depending on playoff performance by the Men’s Soccer and Football teams). “Best case scenario, the scoreboard comes December 1st, and they’ll start with the scoreboard, and then the track will come around the same time in December,” said AD Poore in an interview with The Hoofprint. While that schedule prioritizes installing the track as soon as possible with regard to fall sports, the winter installation poses another potential delay. “When they put that rubberized part on top, it has to be above 60 degrees. Then they have to paint the lines, which requires some warmer weather too,” noted Poore. While a stretch of 60+ degree days in mid-winter is certainly uncommon, they aren’t entirely impossible; last year, Charlotte had six separate three-day plus stretches after mid-December through the end of winter (March 20). This should bode well for an on-time completion of the project, albeit slightly after the start of Outdoor Track season.
There have also been some additions to the plans. The current scoreboard in the stadium is nearly 25 years old; the renovations will include a new scoreboard that will include a video board. “With the video board, we are going to be able to do so much more with [the stadium],” said Principal Robert Folk in an interview with The Hoofprint. “It’s going to be fantastic to go along with our new track.” The work with the trees will clear out space for the new scoreboard and a nearly story-tall Mustang statue. The Mustang statue will even be able to blow green smoke from its mouth. “It will be a great addition to our whole complex,” Principal Folk remarked. “We have a lot of history at Myers Park, and our stadium is original to the school. It’s unlike any other stadium in CMS, and we want to keep it that way.”
While the project has been riddled with delays, student-athletes and coaches alike have expressed gratitude for the effort being put into the athletic facilities. “We are very grateful for this being able to happen, because it’s important for [the athletes], for safety… and it will also make our facilities nicer,” said Coach Ben Boyles in an interview with The Hoofprint. “Any type of project like this can have its frustrations and setbacks, but ultimately we are optimistic and looking forward to having the track that everyone at Myers Park can take advantage of.” The track renovations have been long-awaited, and they certainly haven’t been taken for granted. Student-athletes have been looking forward to the refresh for years, while current delays have certainly been frustrating for many, it seems that change is right around the corner for the Stuart B. Allen track.