Its Lights Out For Esko Football And Girls Soccer

Wes Vork-NSO

Apr 27, 2012

Wes Vork-NSO

A significant problem, decades in the making, has risen to the forefront for Esko Athletics. In separate but related instances, the field lighting as well as the bleachers and press box were recently red tagged and put out of service, creating an embarrassing and potentially expensive situation for the football and girls soccer teams.

Late last fall, a light and/or cross-brace broke loose from a lighting pole on the west side of the complex and was dangling. When contractors were brought in to assess the situation, it was decided the assembly was deteriorated to the point that sending a crew up to remove or repair it would create an undo safety risk, so the pole was cut down at ground level.

This spring, a second light broke loose from the other west side pole. Further inspection showed the remaining lighting was not in much better shape, so the remaining three poles were cut down also. Although some of the poles had a small amount of useful life left, removing them all was viewed as the safest move with spectators traveling under and seated near the east side poles.

“When originally installed, the poles were high quality poles and they did have some life left in them; five, six, or maybe seven years worth. However, the decision was made to take all the poles down because I was concerned about the safety of the remaining poles and something bad happening. The amount of life left in them to me didn’t justify putting new lights back up there.” Esko School District Superintendant Aaron Fischer explained.

To illustrate just how outdated the facilities have become, the outdated lights produced about 10 foot candles of light and cost around $60.00 per hour per pole to operate. Compare that to modern lighting, which produces 30 foot candles and cost $4.00 per hour to operate.

Not long after receiving the bad news on field lighting, a mandatory periodic inspection of the bleachers revealed more problems for the aging facility
that was build in the early 1970’s. Previous bleacher inspections had revealed problems, which the district had worked to address, but this time around the seating was placed out of service by inspectors.

“This isn’t shocking news, we knew the bleachers were not great and we have modified them over the years to address code issues; but now they are questioning the integrity of the structure. We had hoped for another four or five years of service out of them.” Said Fischer

District officials are working to gather information and assess the situation, but playing games at 4:00 pm and watching from bag chairs appears to be a real possibility in the near future. Costs to replace the field lighting could easily top $100,000 while even modest bleachers and a small press box would likely add another $150-200,000 to the total cost; money the district doesn’t have budgeted right now.

With no current plans in place for facility upgrades, in the interim, the district is looking to schedule fall games earlier in the day to avoid the lighting issues. “It’s unfortunate because we do not currently have a plan in place to address our facility needs out there” Explained Fischer. “There is a strong possibility we won’t have anything budgeted before next fall, so I have ask our Activities Director, Chad Stoskopf to look into a fall schedule that would include not having lights out there.

Besides varsity football, Esko is the host school for the Esko/Carlton girls soccer team, both of which use the facilities for home games. The boys soccer team would not be affected because it is part of the Cloquet-Esko-Carlton program, which plays and practices in Cloquet. However, with 7th-8th grade, freshman, and junior varsity teams also vying for a field to play on, the 4:00pm time slot gets a bit crowded.

“We are looking at moving some games up and using alternative sites, along with moving some lower level home games to away games. Games schedules aren’t always 50-50 home and away anyhow and our neighbors have been really good about working with us” explained Fischer.

Stoskopf explained that it should be possible to retain all home football games for the 2012 season. “It’s not the way a senior would want to go out necessarily, but at least they will be playing on their home field. I think we will have it worked out where our opponents will come and play us at the earlier (4:00pm) time.” While the school district may have no choice but to play at the earlier timeslot, attendance, which provides a substantial portion of overall attendance revenue, could suffer, further compounding the problem.

Plans for seating are a bit more up in the air. Repair costs are being gathered for the existing bleachers; and if they come in at a cost effective number, repairs could be made in time for use during the fall sports season. However, with the existing bleachers approaching 40 years in age it will be a tough decision on how much money to spend on repairs. If the bleachers are not repairable, finding funding and installing new bleachers before the fall sports season is highly unlikely.

Whether or not the lack of facilities would hurt the overall participation remains to be seen. While it has not been ideal by any means, the Esko Track and Field team has made due without a track to practice on for years. In an almost “us against the world” mentality, the Eskomos have dominated in local track circles. Last year the girls team was crowned as the 2011 Minnesota State True Team Champions. Additionally, the boys and girls track teams take a full busload of athletes to compete in the MSHSL State Track Meet each year. Recently the program produced two state champions in Kate Shelerud and Marisa Shady.

Esko-Carlton Head Girls Soccer Coach Nicole Peterson is understanding of the situation and optimistic that her program, which won its second Section 7A championship in 2011, can work through the distractions and remain competitive. “Losing the lights on the field will certainly affect the soccer team. However, it will affect the football team more. For soccer we had to move some of our late games back to 4:30. The girls will be disappointed because late games meant more fans.” Peterson further explained “However, I would rather see cuts in facilities than programs. The further we can keep the cuts from the kids the better. It is not optimal, but it is understandable given budget concerns within the district.”

The 40 year old facility finds itself competing for money with other capital improvements within the district. The district budgets around 300,000 dollars annually for capital improvements, and last year there were 1.5 million in requests, and that was before the field issues surfaced.

Another factor in the overall decision is whether doing repairs in a piecemeal fashion is the correct approach. “We want to be thinking long term; we don’t want to put a bunch of money into something that we don’t believe is our long term solution” mentioned Fischer. Fischer also asked that anyone with questions please contact the school for more information.

Besides fitting the repairs into future budgets; other options include taking dollars from the district’s fund balance or bringing a referendum to the voters. In September of 2009, a levy which would have providing funds to rebuild the aging facility failed by nearly a 2-1 margin. An operating levy last election year also failed by a 727-533 vote; although Fischer was quick to point out the later referendum was an operating only levy which had nothing to do with facilities.

Whatever approach is ultimately taken to address the aging facility, it is quite possible the fall sports season will arrive before any repairs can be made. So when this fall rolls around, grab your bag chair, leave work a little early, and come out to support the local athletes; who really just want to have fun and compete in their favorite sports.

Wes Vork can be reached at wes@northlandsportsonline.com