Frank Fanelli File Photo
Moisture bubbles and tears in the field house track as of Wednesday.
The city school district’s facilities team is sprinting towards a roughly $100,000 short-term fix for dozens of moisture bubbles and tears in the Floyd Little Athletic Center track surface — in the runup to a longer-term $1.3 million needed overhaul.
That subject was taken up by the Board of Education’s Finance & Operations Committee Monday afternoon during its biweekly virtual meeting on Zoom.
The committee voted unanimously to approve a purchase order with state contractor Sports Construction of CT LLC to repair the damaged areas of the 480 Sherman Pkwy. athletic center that is used for several sports including the track team of Hillhouse High School, which is located right next door. The request will next go to the full Board of Education for a final review and vote at its Oct. 10 meeting.
The temporary emergency repairs associated with that purchase order request — for a total of $98,903.32 — will include the ripping out of 36 track bubbles, replacement of the surrounding damaged areas with a new rubber surface, painting the entire track, repainting new track lines and track numbers with rubber paint, ripping out and replacing the long jump running area, and addressing any additional bubbling that occurs through the 2023 – 24 track season.
District officials estimate that longer-term fixes to the athletic complex, however, could cost upwards of $1.3 million, and would need to be funded with the help of the state.
New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) Chief Operating Officer Thomas Lamb, Director of Project Management Frank Fanelli III, and Director of the Physical Education, Health & Athletics Department Erik Patchkofsky presented on the proposed purchase order at Monday’s committee meeting — leading school board member OrLando Yarborough III to raise concerns that the shorter-term fix will ultimately be rendered moot by necessary longer-term repairs.
Click here to view the full purchase order request.
Maya McFadden Photo
Outside of the field house Tuesday.
Lamb, Patchkofsky, and Fanelli said they have known for years that the field house’s surface was in need of larger costly repairs, but due to a lack of funding they resorted to doing small repairs while continuing the search for maintenance funding for more permanent repairs.
The field house surface originally went down more than 20 years ago when built. Ten years ago the field house surface had overlay put on top of the old surface. Lamb said this type of surface has a life span of about ten years.
Over the years, “due to moisture sitting in between the surface,” Fanelli said, rippling, bubbling, and tears have occurred in various parts of the entire facility’s surface.
The track and field season begins in six weeks and “the track is not safe for competition or practice,” Fanelli said.
The purchase order request will be for getting many of the bubbles and ripples emergency repaired to make the track safe for the upcoming track season.
Tearing of the track surface.
Lamb clarified that when the manufacturer originally laid the surface, they did not put down a vapor barrier between the concrete and track surface, making it so all the moisture and condensation created under the surface was not being absorbed. Instead, they would seep through the heavily used track surface to create bubbles and tearing. The lack of a vapor barrier has accelerated the wear, Lamb said, along with the high use of the facility.
Patchkofsky said the district has been doing repairs on the surface over the last couple of years, but it has now gotten to the point where the water damaged bubbles and tears are unsafe for athletes to run on.
Patchkofsky added that the field house brings in around $200,000 to $300,000 in revenue each year from rentals and events, which is a huge reason to spend the near $100,000 on repairs.
"Band-Aid Solutions" Lamented
During Monday’s meeting, school board committee member OrLando Yarborough III asked the trio of NHPS officials when the district noticed the needed repairs at the field house.
Lamb responded, “Unfortunately we have known for a while, but now that it’s creeping up on us and it’s getting worse, we have to take action otherwise there would just be no way they can be on the track safely.”
He added that the team has been considering for a long time how it could financially support the replacement due to the district’s struggles with a lack of funding for building maintenance.
When asked about the expected timeline for the full repairs in the future, Fanelli said, “It’s really as fast as we could acquire the funds which we are currently working on and have been working on.”
The hope is for the full project to be completed by the end of Spring 2024, he said.
Lamb added that “one of the obstacles with this is the cost. This is about a $1.4, $1.3 million dollar job, it’s significant.” This obstacle is due in part to restrictions on the district’s capital funds. He said his team is working with NHPS Supervisor of Magnet and Grant programs Michele Bonanno and city Acting Controller Michael Gormany to seek out alternative funding streams.
Fanelli added, “We were told that this building is not considered an education building, so funding is a little different.”
“The amount of capital that we have is in many cases committed to our HVAC systems and to other critical building system issues around the district,” Lamb said.
A $1.3 million project would take up almost a quarter of the total building capital budget, Lamb added.
When asked by this reporter about the impact the field house athletics has on NHPS students Patchkofsky responded via email Tuesday; “This athletic facility serves as a hub for physical activity, teamwork, and personal development. It offers top-notch sports equipment and training spaces, which together with expert coaching allow students to excel in their chosen sports and to reach their full athletic potential. The programs we run here promote a healthy and active lifestyle, instill values of discipline and dedication, and foster a sense of camaraderie and school spirit among our student athletes.”
Monday's F&O meeting.
Patchkofsky continued to highlight that the field house generates revenue that has offset the athletic department’s need for a budget increase for the past 15 years.
“If we are not able to use the track for our rentals and the bleachers and all that, that would have a major impact on funding for the athletic programs. If you look at urban programs, New Haven thrives compared to our counterparts and a big part of that is due to the revenue stream that we’re able to get from that building,” Patchkofsky said.
Yarborough voiced concerns about investing in a “$100,000 season” temporarily while also saying he does agree with the value of making the repairs.
He added: “I do have a challenge with the timing of this in that it sounds like we’re going to invest $100,000 into this fix and then within a year or two years that’s going to go down the drain because we’re going to get a full repair.”
He continued, “I much rather would have had us working a while ago on securing outside funding or other ways of planning for this so we don’t have to be in this space of losing $100,000.”
Lamb said over the last two years the conditions of the track have deteriorated to a point that was not anticipated.
When asked how long the quick fix repairs are expected to last, Fanelli said the purchase order request includes an additional five bubble repairs by the contractor if needed during track season. “I’m hoping again it’s going to get us through the season and with the possible fix we’ll be fine for the next couple years, but we don’t know what’s going to happen in the future with the rest of the track,” he said.
Patchkofsky emphasized that even if alternative funding is secured now, the full replacement wouldn’t be finished before the start of the track season. Lamb estimated that the full replacement would take 8 to 10 weeks and would need to be scheduled during a time when loss of revenue would be minimized.
“Yes, it’s $100,000, but without the track being repaired and without the use of the fieldhouse, we would lose between $200,000 and $300,000 in revenue,” Patchkofsky said.
The $100,000 fix is expected to take four weeks according to the purchase order.
Yarborough concluded by saying, “I support us repairing the track, one thought is just if we can give additional thought to the timing of the full repair.”
He suggested, if approved by the full board, the district aim to get the most out of the $100,000 fix.
Lamb noted that the field house’s bleachers are reaching their end of life after 20 years. He said recent repairs make them usable for now, but they will soon need to be replaced, which would cost around $800,000 from capital resources. The district has already set capital funding aside for these bleacher repairs.
Patchkofsky clarified that his department has been asking the district for replacement funding for the past 7 to 8 years, but HVAC repairs and replacements and other building maintenance were put higher on the district’s priority list. He urged that now the district must act because it is at a “point where we are going to lose revenue.”
Finance and Operations Committee Chair Matt Wilcox described the temporary fix as a “microcosm of problems we have across [the] district” specifically citing the district’s inability to invest what it needs into building maintenance because of its underfunding, which results in such “Band-Aid situations.”