Mayor Don Ness set home plate into the new Astroturf system as the final days of playing surface work continue Wednesday morning at Wade Municipal Stadium.
Astroturf workers are installing the infill system into the turf and will hopefully have the field work completed by the end of the week. But much work needs to be done to be game ready. Fencing has to be installed. Wall pads, painting, and concrete finish work will continue after the field crew depart.
The Brick wall work will continue through the spring of 2015 as tuck pointing, and brick replacement needs to still be done followed by pre-cast concrete wall caps.
Concrete crews are preparing final inside stadium pours and will move outside for the new decorative concrete front entry which will feature an new drainage system to keep water from collecting into the front doors and causing heaving and ice damage in winter months.
The City and TKDA engineers are still coming up with concepts for the doors for the side of the stadium and that piece will be delayed into the spring.
The Duluth Huskies would like to thank not only the crews that have accomplished the work, but the work done by TKDA Engineering and Kraus Anderson Construction who led the way.
The real story however goes out to Mayor Ness, City Administrators, and our Legislative Delegation. They found the way to get the project funded after so many years of disappointment. The general public should be proud of the way the Mayor, and his staff worked the Legislature to get funding after being initially denied. Once funded, the Mayor placed intense pressure on his staff to get the project completed so that our local players would not have to travel outside of the City for Home games, or lose games to poor field conditions. Thanks to Daniel Fanning, Erik Birkeland, Rob Hurd, Jeff Anderson, Joe Miller at the City for their intense past few months and it has not gone unnoticed.
The process of renovating the stadium is still far from done and more funding will need to be secured to repair the Grandstand area and bring the facility up to modern standards, but we are celebrating that Wade Stadium has one of the best playing surfaces in the upper midwest and will be a destination for fans and users for years and years to come.