T-R PHOTO BY LANA BRADSTREAM Work progresses on the Franklin Elementary Field Monday. Ground was broken for the revamping project in May and is the first part of the larger Reimagine Miller project. It is expected to be completed before the end of the year.

A lot of progress has been made on the Franklin Field according to an update from Boyd Jones Senior Project Manager Michael Martin at Monday night’s Marshalltown Community School District Board of Education meeting.

Work on the project has gone quite well, even though they had to battle the elements.

“We haven’t had rain in the last month or so, so it is actually too dry,” he said.

The board received an update on the Franklin Field in July. Since then, Martin said they have completely graded the field. Next week, they will install synthetic turf.

“You will start to see it turn green,” he said.

Martin told the board Ramms Construction did a wonderful job finishing the upper and lower playgrounds for the students at Franklin Field Elementary before they started school on Aug. 25.

The installation of the six-lane track is expected to begin in roughly three weeks.

“A lot of motion, a lot of dirt work and the turnaround was pretty quick in the last month,” he said.

Martin said work on the concession stand is ongoing.

“You’ll start to see that come out of the ground this week as masonry starts,” he said. “We will get that enclosed here probably the second week of October. The goal is to have that done before Thanksgiving break.”

Board President Sean Heitmann asked Martin if the project is on schedule or ahead of it.

“We’re roughly right on schedule,” he replied. “We’re trying to pull ahead a little bit to try to capture some of the dryness we have to make up for (the) predicted cold . . . [We’re] on track, pushing to actually gain some time.”

Another project aspect they are on track with is the $7.8 million budget. Martin had some change orders for the next board meeting, but added that they are not drastic.

“We’re still within our contingencies as far as our contractor side,” he said. “Those allowances that we had, we have not dipped into the school’s contingency for the project at this time.”

Since the Franklin Field project has an audience every day at recess time, Martin said they have set up a double fence system.

“There’s two barriers,” he said. “There’s a permanent barrier that’s part of the project, and a set-up barrier that we put in. So, we have two barriers to keep the kids out.”

Heitmann said he drove by the site Sunday morning and thought a lot of progress had been made.

The entire project is expected to be completed before the end of 2025. When complete, Franklin Field will be similar to the field at Marshalltown High School and will also include improved lighting, new restrooms and storage facility, bleachers and an expanded west parking lot.

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Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.