Testing 1-2-3

This is my first blog.  It is posted without preface or pretense.  The sole purpose is to communicate with the Gowanda, NY school community.  Let’s begin by discussing a blue vs. black track.

On Wednesday, June 20^th, the Board of Education will decide the type of artificial track surface to install at our newly renovated athletic complex, Hillis Field.  The initial decision to go with a black track was made over a year ago when the school district was in the early stages of a capital improvement project approved by the voting public in November of 2005.  Now that the project is under budget and we are entering the final stage of the renovations, the Board has the luxury of considering upgrades to the track.

The manufacturer produces artificial track material with a variety of options.  A black track is made up of the same black material throughout the thickness of the entire product.  A blue track is created by applying the blue coloring on top of the black track material.  The reason for the debate stems from the fact that the blue track is very similar to the school’s colors – Panther blue.  Proponents believe installing a blue track will be both aesthetically pleasing and promote school spirit.  This is extremely important in a high school that is trying hard to establish itself as a model of excellence both in the classroom and on the athletic field.  One need only refer to the high school principal’s blog at ghsprincipal@edublogs.org to ascertain how important it is to install a blue track.

During the meeting on June 20^th, I will encourage the Board and those in attendance to evaluate the pros and cons of a black vs. blue track against criteria, in no particular order, that includes:

• Cost of initial installation,
• Maintenance,
• Durability/Longevity,
• Aesthetics, and
• Ability to engender school spirit.

I will also share the results of my interviews with architects, installers, track athletes and other school district personnel who recently installed blue tracks; all in the hope of helping the Board make the right decision.  In fact, with the help of this blog I can disseminate this information in advance of the Board meeting to interested members of the Gowanda community.

There is no doubt that a blue track encourages school spirit.  Imagine attending or running a track meet on a surface that screams “Go Panthers!”  Hillis Field is located in a beautiful topographical bowl next to the Cattaraugus Creek that is easily seen from a major thoroughfare entering both the Village of Gowanda and the school district property.  It commands attention and the blue track would accentuate an already advantageous location.  No doubt the blue track screams out school spirit.

Putting aside the aesthetics of the blue track, here is what I learned of the practicalities of blue vs. black. 

Since the black track is made up of material that permeates the entire product, it is less likely to fade.  I spoke to a runner who graduated in 2006 and she expressed the observation that any surface other than black actually comes up on the bottom of the athletes’ running shoes.  This explains the opinion of the building and grounds supervisor from Chittenango Falls CSD where a blue track was installed in 1997.  When I spoke directly to him during the week of June 6^th, he indicated his school district was disappointed in the blue surface and was planning to abandon it in favor of red.  He said that after 2-3 years, the blue faded to a considerable degree.  This is the opinion expressed by the installers from Nagle Seal Coating who believe that black is a better choice from the perspective of durability and longevity.  The company president states the blue color will change within a six month period as it is extremely “Ultra Violet unstable.”  In addition, the blue color is expensive, adding about 20% on to the cost of the job and up to 50% to the cost of future renovations.

According to the school district’s architects, Habiterra Associates, the black track is preferable to blue when taking into consideration the cost of initial installation, durability/longevity and maintenance.  From a monetary perspective, it costs an additional $30-40,000 to install a blue track.  The life-expectancy of a black track as measured by its visual attraction is estimated at 10-15 years.  As I wrote earlier, a blue track begins to lose its luster after six months.

There is one more thing for you to consider.  According to the contractor responsible for the overall quality of the Hills Field site renovation, a black track can be made visually appealing by the installation of color highlights in the form of school logos, striping and numbers/letters.  There are ample open spaces on the Hillis Field track surface for this to occur.

So there it is.  Blue expresses school spirit and esprit d’corps far in excess of the more mundane black surface.  Black seems the practical choice if cost and durability are the overriding criteria.  It is a hard choice before the Board of Education and I hope this blog helps to explain the deliberations on June 20^th.