By MIKE KEMMETER
of The Gazette
Runners, joggers and walkers who use the running track at Goerke Park have had to find somewhere else to go so far this summer. But when the track reopens soon, they can come back and find a softer and faster track with a new surface.
The city is completing a $120,000 project on the track, which removed the 20-year-old Resilite surface and replaced it with six coats of "seal-flex" - a rubberized surface. Crews also removed and replaced an inch of the asphalt that was under the track's surface. Lines will be painted on the track in the next week or two and then it will be reopened, Tom Schrader, Stevens Point Parks and Recreation Department director, said.
"The previous track was put in in 1980. The track was cracking in areas and it was becoming unsafe," Schrader said. The Resilite surface, which was soft when it was installed, had hardened over the years too, he said.
The track's surface isn't the only improvement made to the track, where Stevens Point Area Senior High and Pacelli High have hosted meets. The pole vault pit was moved to the south side of the stadium allowing for another jumping pit on the west side. The high jump area, which was shaped in a half-circle, was squared off too.
"We're hoping to get 15 to 20 years out of it," Schrader said. The city will have to do maintenance like repainting lines. If the rubberized track shows wear in a certain area, Schrader said the material can be reapplied.
The track is now resurfaced, but the parks department isn't going to leave the stadium alone. In a few years, the east stands will be fixed by adding another layer of concrete, Schrader said. The concrete has leaks and water seeps underneath the stands into the restrooms and storage areas. It has been 20 years since the stands underwent major repair.
City crews did some minor work before last football season, but Schrader said some of the things that were fixed have already deteriorated. "The more we let it leak, the more it will deteriorate," he said.
The exterior of the stadium's press box may also be redone with vinyl siding, he said.
"Then that stadium will be good for years," Schrader said.
The football stadium's field, which is used by the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, SPASH and Pacelli teams, is in excellent shape right now, Schrader said. The field was resodded before the 1998 season. "Last year was a good year because it didn't rain much so it made it through the whole year."
Combine the football field, the new track and the K.B. Willett Arena, which was expanded several years ago, Stevens Point has a complex it can be proud of.
"I think now with the track renovated, I think it is one of the nicest facilities in the Valley. When you look at the total complex it would have to rate as one of the better ones in the Valley and in the WIAC," Schrader said.