Playing on home turf: Chelsea High School debuts new turf field for football season

After less than four months of work, the Chelsea High School football team stepped onto its new turf field to play its first home game of the season on Sept. 2.

The project, which Mayor Tony Picklesimer said had been discussed for several years, was a four-way partnership between the city of Chelsea, the city of Westover, the Shelby County Commission and the Shelby County Board of Education.

David Calhoun, assistant superintendent of operations for Shelby County Schools, explained that since the project was on school system property, it had to go through the school system’s architect. The Shelby County Board of Education approved the project in early March 2022, and the contractor (Specialty Turf Supply in Helena) was given the green light to begin on May 10.

“The terms were a 120-day contract, which would make Sept. 7 the projected completion date, barring any unforeseen issues that could potentially arise during construction,” Calhoun said.

Construction projects often come with delays. Calhoun said during the grading phase of the project in early summer, when the contractor was taking off the field’s crown (approximately 300 truckloads of dirt), they ran into large rocks that were not anticipated and plans were adjusted to excavate those out of the field.

However, the field was ready by Sept. 2 for the opening home game.

Both Calhoun and Picklesimer said the turf field will make Chelsea comparable to programs at other 7A schools.

First year head football coach Todd Cassity said the staff and players are excited about the new turf field.

“Every day as we would go to practice, the guys were looking to see what they had done differently to the field,” Cassity said. There was a lot of anticipation to get on the field and do something special.”

“We hope that it will continue to get us to the same level as the other 7A teams. It will allow us to be able to get on the field at any point during the season, rain or shine.”

Cassity added that with the new turf designs, the difference between grass and turf is very minimal, but the players seem to enjoy playing on the turf a lot better because it has a consistency to it.”

The blue end zones will feature the words “Chelsea” on one end and “Hornets” on the other, along with the Chelsea “C” on the 50-yard line. This field will have markings for a soccer field.

Funding the project

Since the City of Chelsea initiated the project, they chose to do all the work contained in the base bid, plus some additional work in the Alternate No. 1 (D-zone) package, which consisted of additional work/enhancements in the end zone areas where the various field events for the track program are located, Calhoun said.

The four entities involved in the project had different financial levels of responsibility. Picklesimer said the original estimate for the project was $1.4 million, but the bid came in at $1.7 million, plus 10% for the cost of architect and engineering fees.

The City of Chelsea put in $1 million towards the project, using funds from the one-cent education tax; the Shelby County Commission put in $400,000. The Shelby County Board of Education agreed to pay the architect and engineering fees (around $170,000) and the City of Westover gave $100,000.

Additional locker room project

Separate from the turf field project, on June 10, the City of Chelsea voted to pay $190,000 for a locker room and coaches office renovation.

Cassity said work on the locker room project is already underway, as upgrades to the hallway are taking place and the players have already been shown what the new lockers will look like.

“The upgrades will make the guys feel as if they are appreciated and hopefully it will attract more players to want to be a part of the football program,” Cassity said.

Cassity added that the team is working daily to continue to get better. He has high expectations for them and wants them to have the same expectations.

During the city council meeting after the locker room project was approved, Picklesimer said, “With a new locker room, new weight room, new playing surface and new stands, what more could a high school player or coach want?”

“It's beautiful,” Picklesimer said. “I knew it would be. It’s just going to be spectacular.”

The Hornets have their final home game on Oct. 7 at 7 p.m. against Spain Park.

Getting on track

Along with the turf field for the football team, the track team will have an eight-lane competition track and a space to host track meets. In August, the city of Chelsea approved funding of $95,000 worth of new track equipment for the team.

The Chelsea track teams have been sharing space at Heardmont Park with Oak Mountain High School in order to practice for high jumping, long jumping, discus throwing and javelin throwing. Once this project is complete, they can do all those things on their home turf.

Chelsea will join Helena High School as the only other school in the county to have a competition track. Calhoun said the track will be wider than the previous one, which wasn’t regulation size. It will also be striped with lanes. During track meets, all events will take place in the end zones.

With a regulation track, Chelsea High School will have the ability to host meets for both middle school and high school. Money raised from these events will allow the team to pay for meet entries, transportation and more. Meets will also bring visitors into the city.

“For our seniors, I was wanting to send them out with a bang,” track coach Trey Lee said. “They’ve been waiting since 6th grade for this track, so we want to honor them and send them out with the best possible high school career.”

While indoor track begins in late fall, the outdoor season doesn’t begin until March, giving the crews plenty of time after football season to finish the project.

“That's why it was so important to me to not only be the largest contributor in the track itself, but also to make sure they had all new equipment,” Picklesimer said. “There will be a new state of the art beautiful track and we wanted them to have the right equipment they needed to host a meet.”