BANGOR, Maine — Husson University’s Winkin Sports Complex in Bangor has started its renovation.
Work began this week to replace the 14-year-old FieldTurf surface with new FieldTurf. The completion date is early July.
There is also one other project underway as the weight room used by the athletes in Newman Gymnasium is being expanded.
The old surface at the Winkin Sports Complex is being dug up and the black rubber pellets that serve as fill for the surface are being loaded into white bags and placed down the right field line.
“The rubber pellets will be recycled and the old FieldTurf will be sent overseas and recycled into furniture,” said Husson Director of Athletics Frank Pergolizzi. “At least they aren’t winding up in a landfill.”
Once all the turf and rubber pellets are removed, workers will begin putting in the new surface after they put a shock pad under it, according to Pergolizzi.
“The shock pad will improve the resiliency of the field and it also has a very important drainage component to it,” he explained.
The field project, which will cost $1.6 million, is being funded by Husson University’s reserves fund, according to Pergolizzi.
H.E. Sargent Inc. of Old Town is the contractor for the project and R.A.D. Sports in Rockland, Massachusetts, is the subcontractor handling the removal of the old surface.
“The new turf is basically the same as the old turf but it’s 14 years newer,” said Pergolizzi. “It will have an eight-year warranty but we’ll be looking to get around 12 years out of it. If you take care of them, they will last longer.”
The new surface will include a portable mound that is specifically constructed for turf fields. The old field had a dirt mound.
“The portable mound will make the transformation back and forth between football and baseball easier,” said Pergolizzi.
The field will also have a new scoreboard, priced at approximately $28,000, according to Pergolizzi, and will be paid for by advertisements on the scoreboard for the next five years.
“It will be all digital so you won’t look up at the scoreboard and wonder if that’s an eight, a six or a three on it [due to burned-out bulbs],” said Pergolizzi.
The weight room will be more than twice as large as it had been and will carry a price tag of $260,000, which has been raised by donors.
“Our athletic weight room had been 1,000 square feet and was a dark, dingy place,” said Pergolizzi. “There was a room next to it that, at one point, had a batting cage in it. Two summers ago, we brought in a dumpster and got rid of a lot of trash.
“All of a sudden, we had an empty room and we felt we needed to do something with the space,” he said.
The two rooms will be merged into one and will be 2,200 square feet. It will contain new equipment, lighting and a ventilation system.
General contractor Nichols Construction of Bangor began the work on Monday and Pergolizzi is hoping the new weight room is completed at the same time as the field renovation.