Today we continue with part 2 of our conversation with Perry Activities Director Tom Lipovac concerning the recent Van Kirk donation towards improvement to Dewey Field in Perry.  One of the areas being explored is the possibility of changing from the current natural surface to an artificial field that is becoming more common at the high school level.

“The artificial surface has great benefit,” added Lipovac.  “The obvious one is for building and grounds as far as maintenance and painting the field.  The wear is a huge advantage as well.  We could use it for all of our football practices and games at all levels, the marching band, the soccer, physical education classes and some schools even have their baseball and softball teams work on it.”

The change to an artificial surface will be a costly one and Lipovac has looked to one local school’s recent changes as price gauge as he continues to gather information.

“We are certainly very aware that this potentially could be a very expensive project.  Recently ADM High School engaged in the remodeling of a brand new track, new artificial football surface, and concession stand repair and it ran between 3 and 4 million dollars.  Recent North Polk and Gilbert renovations were close to that same amount.”

Perry currently has 700,000 dollars committed to the project and the exploratory stage is underway now at Perry.

“I actually had a meeting with both Darek and Kirk (Van Kirk) about a month ago to discuss the gift and get their thoughts on what they would like to see.  Our next step is clearly the design phase as we begin to talk to engineers and architects and discover what works best for our needs in Perry and what options will be the most affordable.  It will likely be done in phases.”

Tomorrow, the Raccoon Valley Radio Network will compare the Dewey Field renovations to the construction of the current Perry Athletic Complex and explore similarities and differences.