Photo by Jon Anderson.
The Vestavia Hills High School girls soccer team practices on the artificial turf at Buddy Anderson Field in Vestavia Hills on April 12. The artificial turf is slated to be replaced this summer.
The Vestavia Hills City Council has agreed to pay $3.5 million to the city’s school board over the next three years to help pay for improvements to athletic facilities.
The first $1.1 million will be paid this summer to cover the replacement of artificial turf at Vestavia Hills High School’s Buddy Anderson Field and roadway, drainage and parking improvements at the athletic field at Vestavia Hills Elementary Dolly Ridge.
Additional payments of $1.2 million each are scheduled to follow in July 2025 and July 2026. They will help cover replacement of gym floors at Pizitz Middle School and the Dolly Ridge, East, West and Liberty Park elementary schools; replacement of basketball goals at the East and West elementary schools; track improvements at Vestavia Hills Elementary Central; new turf at the football/soccer/lacrosse field at Pizitz; and bathroom and concession improvements at the high school baseball field.
The school board recently approved a $784,000 contract with Specialty Turf Supply for the new artificial turf installation at the high school and a $186,449 contract with Bama Utility Contractors for the work at Dolly Ridge.
The turf installation is scheduled to begin June 1 and be completed by mid-July, and the work at Dolly Ridge is scheduled to be done by July 31.
Vestavia Hills Athletics Director Myra Miles said the turf work at the high school is “absolutely a need and not a want.” The existing turf is probably more than a decade old. She’s been in this role for three years, and “from year one, we’ve had to constantly fix rips,” she said. “It’s really worn. It’s over time to get it fixed.”
Anytime you have rips in turf, there’s the chance of athletes and others on the field, such as marching band members, hanging a toe on the rips, she said. “We have to constantly stay on top of getting the rips sewn up. It’s a safety issue.”
While the turf is getting replaced, school officials also are going to fix some water and electrical issues on the field, Miles said. There has been no access to water on the sideline for a few years, and the electrical outlets on the sideline also have not worked well, she said. “This is definitely an upgrade.”
Specialty Turf Supply also will maintain the artificial turf for the school system, Miles said.
The job at Dolly Ridge will include paving the stone driveway that leads down a hill to the recreation field, adding handicapped parking spaces and repairing a stormwater drainage pipe to help with erosion control.
It has been hard for some people, especially elderly people and people with disabilities, to walk down the existing stone driveway, Principal Ty Arendall said. The paved surface and paved handicapped parking spaces at the bottom of the drive will provide better accessibility, he said.
The other improvements to athletic facilities also are important, Miles said. “The gym floor at Pizitz is very old, and the gym floor at Liberty Park could really use some love,” she said. Also, the bathroom and concession areas at the high school baseball field are old and starting to have some big issues, Miles said.
“Hopefully over the next three years, we’ll be in really good shape,” she said. “We are really excited. … I’m so thrilled that we’re partnering with the city.”
Superintendent Todd Freeman said the focus of the partnership is to make sure the school system has the safest and best conditions possible for its athletic facilities.
The resolution passed by the Vestavia Hills City Council to fund these projects notes that the city and school system share one another’s athletic facilities, and the financial sustainability of the school system is directly correlated with the long-term success of the city.
