Chesterton High School’s varsity baseball and softball fields will get new turf and other amenities as part of a $3.595 million contract awarded Monday by the Duneland School Board.
Gough Inc., which received the contract, will start work on the fields this summer.
The school board in December authorized the Skillman Corporation, the construction manager, to collect bids for a number of identified projects, and then determine which ones could be done.
Superintendent Chip Pettit said the high school fieldhouse, which needs a new floor, was on the list, but there wasn’t enough money in the budget.
The projects would be paid for from what remains of a $14.39 million general obligation bond the school district obtained in January 2025. Some of the major improvements financed by the bond include a new soccer complex, replacing carpet and updating the building trades space at the high school and new playgrounds for the elementary schools.
Under the plan, the varsity baseball and softball fields will get new turf and backstops, along with new fencing.
Board member Jocelyn Hibshman noted that left field sinks down at the varsity baseball field, which could indicate an issue.
Scott Cherry of Skillman Corporation said that there is a contingency built into the contract to address that potential issue. He said that when the old turf is removed, the soils beneath will be tested to see what should be done.
Pettit said it’s hoped that if there is enough money left, the junior varsity baseball and softball fields would also get new turf, backstops and fencing. It is also hoped that the varsity tennis courts could get new fencing.
In other business, the board approved an adjustment to its lease agreement that will turn the control of the swimming pool at the old high school/middle school campus over to the Duneland YMCA, effective April 1, 2027.
The Duneland YMCA is transforming most of the old high school/middle school property into the Healthy Living Campus. The Duneland School Corporation still has offices on the campus and leases the property to the YMCA.
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Pettit said the school corporation and YMCA had shared responsibility for the pool during the past two years. He said the school district, which has a pool at the high school, doesn’t want to be responsible for maintaining two pools.
Jim Woods is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.