LEETONIA SCHOOLS Architect selection at hand

Work on softball and baseball fields is progressing.
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LEETONIA -- Leetonia Board of Education will have a special meeting at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday to interview architect firms for the design of the district's new athletic facilities.
Treasurer Larry Syverson said athletic complex plans include a new football stadium and track and other items such as an outdoor basketball court or gazebo as funds allow.
Syverson said the board will hear the ideas of the various firms and then will likely hire one of the three at the board's regular meeting Oct. 30.
Softball field
Syverson said the excavating work on the softball field is nearly completed. Excavators were to return today to put down a layer of topsoil, then move on to excavate an area nearby for the baseball field.
The baseball and softball fields are first on the priority list because the fields were lost because of the construction of the new school complex, Syverson said.
The softball and baseball teams were displaced because the fields were in the construction zone, he said.
For the past two years, boys played baseball home games on fields in the Salem city parks system, and girls played softball on fields at Washingtonville Elementary. The district has since sold the Washingtonville property.
Syverson said when the excavating is complete, Athletic Turf Development of Garfield Heights can then seed the softball and baseball areas. The cost is $16,500 for the softball field and $19,400 for the baseball field.
Outfield will be seeded
If the weather causes problems with the seeding, the fields can be sodded, Syverson noted. The outfield will be seeded regardless of the weather because sodding the outfield is cost prohibitive because of its size, he said.
The board is planning a new football field and track because there are plans to demolish the old high school building and sell the 3.6-acre corner lot, including the football stadium property.
The property can't be developed, however, until the new football field is ready for play.
Syverson said school officials have set aside about $520,000 of the district's permanent improvement levy revenue for athletic fields development since 1998, the year school officials learned the state would help fund the new school.
tullis@vindy.com