Two Distinguished Athletic Facilities Recognized at 2022 American Sports Builders Association Technical Meeting!
On December 4, 2022, LaBella Associates received two awards at the American Sports Builders Association (ASBA) Technical Meeting and Trade Show in Palm Desert, California. The athletic facility at Webster Schroeder High School was recognized as a 2022 Distinguished Facility in the Multi Field Facility category, and the athletic facility for the Public Service Leadership Academy at Fowler High School was recognized as a 2022 Distinguished Facility in the Single Field Facility category. These awards are presented to facilities that support ASBA’s goal of promoting excellence in sports facility construction and design.
Webster Schroeder High School
The fields at Webster Schroeder were installed as part of Webster CSD’s 2018 Capital Improvement Project. The athletic portion of the project included a new 4.5-acre, multi-purpose turf baseball/softball/practice field, track, and sodded natural grass field. Athletic amenities included backstops, bullpens, batting cages, dugouts, bleachers, scoreboards, ball netting, portable outfield fencing, and stadium lighting.
An entrance area to the field complex was reconstructed consisting of concrete, landscaping, a new storage building, and restroom area. The track facility was upgraded from a cinder track to an asphalt track with rubberized surfacing. Multiple track events were upgraded, including long jump, triple jump, high jump, steeplechase, pole vault, shotput, discus, and hammer throw.
A large grandstand and press box were installed to improve the field seating capacity and provide live event broadcast capabilities. Stadium lighting was installed to allow extended hours of play. Additionally, a new natural grass sod field was constructed on the interior of the track.
Learn more about this project here
Public Service Leadership Academy at Fowler
The field at the Public Service Leadership Academy at Fowler was in a floodplain, discharged to an impaired watershed, located within an urban area, and landlocked between existing developments and streets. There was a limited footprint in which to develop a track and field facility. Additionally, varying depths of peat were found in thicknesses from 0 to 17 inches during geotechnical investigation.
This project is unique in its construction below the surface. The likelihood of differential settlement was a concern due to the varying soil profiles. To keep the track intolerance over a design life of 15 years, several options were explored. Ultimately, the site was designed with deep timber pile foundations that would bear the load on stable native soil below the peat. A concrete “floor slab” was constructed over the piles to support both the track and the field.
Learn more about this project here
