Will Memorial Stadium be ready for football opener?
Great Falls Public Schools athletic director Gary DeGooyer said Thursday that he is “cautiously doubtful” the new field at Memorial Stadium will be ready in time for the season opener on Aug. 25.
The process of putting down the new FieldTurf has not yet started.
DeGooyer said workers will begin doing that Tuesday of next week, Aug. 15, eight days later than the originally scheduled date.
He said it could require anywhere from 10-15 days from start to finish.
“When they get here and start,” DeGooyer said, “they will give us a better timeline. Are they going to work eight-hour days or are they going to work 15-hour days and turn the lights on? It takes so much time, and they told me when they get here and get their entire crew they’ll have a better idea how long it’s going to take.”
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The entire project began on June 14 but various complications with dirt and drains have caused DeGooyer and others to brainstorm contingency plans for C.M. Russell High’s home debut against Helena High.
As for the whole renovation taking longer than expected, DeGooyer attributed it to several factors.
“We’ve probably had to dig deeper than most places,” he said. “A lot more fill, but local contractors and people have pulled together and just been super working with. It’s been a lot of pieces, a lot of moving parts pulling it together.”
When the process began, workers had to dig approximately three feet below the surface to delete certain clay and other material, allowing for a solid base for optimal drainage.
“We had to hook up a storm drain to a city drain and that took a little bit more time,” DeGooyer said. “I think all of that probably delayed the process a little bit.”
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Many options are currently on the table for Russell’s season opener, DeGooyer said, including potentially moving the game to Aug. 26 for a Saturday contest.
“When we drove into Big Sky last year they still didn’t have one goalpost up,” he said of the field in Missoula. “(Mark) Samson and the boys pulled into Big Sky for the sophomore game at four o’clock and they were still installing the last goalpost at Big Sky High School.”
DeGooyer said a potential site is on the campus of C.M. Russell High, either on Jack Johnson Pride Field or the sophomore field across the parking lot.
In that case, because lights are unavailable, he said the game would commence in the afternoon on Aug. 25.
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“It won’t be great for seating or fans,” DeGooyer said, “but the football game will get played.”
DeGooyer didn’t rule out Paris Gibson as an option.
“Of all the fields, that’s probably the best grass field we have in the city right now for football,” he said. “But they only have a small set of bleachers on the one side. Seating or capacity for fans will probably be like small-town Montana, standing on the track where they can to see the game.”
DeGooyer said by next Thursday or Friday he should have a better idea of whether the game will stay at Memorial Stadium or move to another location, though he could wait longer.
“Until they absolutely say we can’t play at the stadium and they are not going to have it ready by that date, we are hoping and have our fingers crossed,” DeGooyer said.
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Great Falls High’s and C.M. Russell High’s annual intrasquad scrimmages set for next Friday will be relocated to Paris Gibson and Pride Field, respectively. DeGooyer said he doesn’t think there will be any problems with the Great Falls High-Billings Skyview game at Memorial Stadium on Sept. 1.
The new track surrounding the field can be completed in 10 working days once the football field is finished, DeGooyer said. The Flathead Beacon reported earlier this week that renovations to Legends Stadium in Kalispell will not be done until the first week of September.