It’s Almost Official: Tech’s Getting Recreational Turf Fields

Texas Tech Rec Center, photo courtesy of their Facebook page.

Photo courtesy of the Texas Tech Rec Center Facebook page.

The land has been prepped. The committee has decided. After three years of discussion, recreational turf fields will soon likely be placed near the girls’ soccer complex and Greek Circle 2 — even though the turf field initiative did not receive two-thirds of the student vote on the SGA’s election ballot in February.

Peter Brady, former chief of staff under the Cotton administration, said the two-thirds vote is not technically a requirement in the SGA by-laws, and a referendum just needs a simple majority for approval.

Brady said two-thirds is desirable because it shows overwhelming support for a referendum — especially one changing the financial burden for students to attend college.

With 53 percent of the student vote, the referendum barely received a majority of the vote.

Peter Brady

Peter Brady

In addition, Brady said, the referendum on the ballot did not mention how the fields would be funded; it only asked students if they would support a fee increase.

As the last SGA external vice president, Peyton Craig became chairman of the student recreational fee advisory committee, a university committee made up of selected students and faculty representatives. Craig said the committee ratified the Facility, Planning and Construction’s turf field proposal Thursday during a conference call.

The newly inaugurated external vice president of the Student Government Association at Texas Tech University, Stetson Whetstone, said the committee ratification allowed a temporary authorization of the planning and implementation of the proposed construction of the turf fields.

“It will be presented to the regents for approval,” Whetstone said.

Luke Cotton, the former SGA president, said the total cost is estimated to be around $6 million or less, but the $25 per semester fee increase will continue after the fields are paid off to pay for resurfacing that will be needed every 10 years.

Whetstone said the turf fields will be financed similar to how the school paid for the leisure pool — through grants and loans, which the student fees pay back later. The students will not be charged the $25 fee increase until the fields are open and in use. Students currently pay $75 a semester in recreation fees.

Whetstone said $17 to $18 of the fee increase will be for the turf fields, and the remainder will be for maintenance and upkeep of the Rec Center.

If some 33,000 students paid $18 a semester, approximately $1.2 million a year would be collected from the turf field fees, leaving about $450,000 a year in new fees for the Rec Center maintenance.

Committee chairman Craig said the earliest the fields would be available is next spring — next fall at the latest. The fields will take three to four months to construct, but figuring out funds is the next step, he said.

Brady, a junior finance major who was the SGA chief of staff until recently, said the construction of the turf fields would probably be funded by commercial paper, which is a short-term fixed loan that must be paid back within 270 days. He said this type of loan would probably require Tech to have a repayment method planned before receiving the money.

Snapchat from Luke Cotton

Snapchat from Luke Cotton

 

The turf fields are necessary, Whetstone said, because there is currently not enough room on the intramural fields by the Robert H. Ewalt Student Recreation Center to provide for the current demand.

There will be two fields, and they will be open to students, Whetstone said, adding that placing the fields near the soccer complex — rather than placing turf on the current intramural fields east of the Rec Center — will help with capacity issues as the school continues to grow, and they will be gated and monitored.

“The intramurals are such a big deal to the campus and the student life, that we need to build more fields,” Whetstone said,” and the reason we did turf fields is, it solves the problem with water. During the heat of day, you don’t have to worry about damaging grass, but in the early afternoon, you don’t have to worry about trying to prepare the grass for the next week. You don’t have to worry about watering.”

Scott Layher, the unit coordinator for marketing at the Rec Center, said watering for the grass fields will subsequently decrease as the turf fields will hold all of the intramural sports.

Senior electronic media and communications major Katie Penkert, who voted yes for the $25 increase, said the grass fields are rough.

“They’re like all dirt, and no grass,” Penkert said, adding that when it is windy, the grass cuts players because it is so dry.

 

Regine Cliatt and Evan Dixon contributed to this report.

 

About Alicia Keene

Graduate Executive Director
Alicia Keene is a dual master's student from Austin, Texas studying mass communication and business. One day, she hopes to work for a prominent news publication in a major city as either a reporter or producer.