By Glen Rosales
Special to the SUN

The Pojoaque Valley athletic complex is undergoing a makeover, starting with the football field and surrounding track.

After more than a decade of use, the worn and hardened gridiron turf is being replaced by a newer version.

“There were a lot of places that were really hardened on the turf,” Elks Athletic Director Sean Jimenez said of the football field. “It was becoming a safety issue. There were different places where the seams were coming up. The life span of the turf had run its course.”

And the old, black track already is being ripped out, to be replaced by a modern version.

The track was peeling in areas, Jimenez said, and flooding caused a hardening of portions of the track after water seeped into it from overflowing drainage.

“This is huge for our community,” Jimenez said. “We can showcase all of our facilities for the community. Our elementary students come up for field days. Middle school students use the facilities. And we have several community events out there every year.”

The project is expected to cost about $1.4 million, which is being covered in part by a bond package the community approved in November, as well as $150,000 in capital outlay funds through the state legislature, and the remainder from an insurance settlement after flooding caused some damage to the grounds.

The football field was installed in 2015, but the track dates back decades and showed significant wear, Jimenez said.

It was so bad that in an area where track is such a popular sport, Jimenez said, Pojoaque was unable to give its athletes and local fans a home event.

“Another reason it’s real important is we have not hosted a track meet in I don’t know how long,” Jimenez said. “Cross country and track at Pojoaque, we used to win championships and now we haven’t even been able to host a track meet. Our goal for next year is to host a track meet.”

Before deciding on a color scheme for the new surfaces, school administrators sought input from the community and the decision was to go with Kelly green for the football field and a gray track with green exchange zones.

“It’s going to look really nice,” Jimenez said.

Lone Mountain Contracting out of Bosque Farms, which did the original work on the track and football field, will do the renovations, which are scheduled to be completed by July 1, Jimenez said.

Lone Mountain officials reported the underlying beds on the project are in solid shape, so the work should progress without a hitch, Jimenez said.

Of course, with the work being done to the field, that means track and field athletes who are in season, as well as football players undergoing spring workouts in preparation for next fall, have been displaced.

The district has hired a bus to ferry the track athletes to the Pojoaque Wellness Center three times a week.

The football players have carved out a portion of the soccer/softball fields to use when softball is not in session.

The project got its official start last week when Pojoaque Valley Schools Superintendent Channell Segura joined school board members and high school administrators in pulling back part of the football field, ceremoniously digging some dirt and chucking it into the air.

Athletes from both the track and football programs were on hand, as were community members.

This is just the first step in what is expected to be an ongoing upgrade to the athletic facilities across campus, Jimenez said, with the soccer/softball field slated to get the next turf upgrade treatment.

“It really is a multi-use place and I think it is something this community can be proud of,” he said.