Apollo Athletic Field and Track Being Fixed and Updated This Summer [VIDEO]

ST. CLOUD - The Apollo High School athletic field and track will see some much needed improvements this summer.

District 742 buildings and grounds supervisor Bryan Brown says just over $500,000 in updates will be done. The renovations will start the first week of July and will be done by the fall.

Brown says the rubber track is in desperate need of repairs. Portions of it have started to break and chip away. It's come to the point where this track is just shot."

"We have areas where the rubber is actually letting loose of the blacktop. You can actually put your hand underneath and lift the whole track up, it's no longer adhering."

The track was last updated 18 years ago. The summer updates should last for the next 20-30 years.

Other updates this summer include moving the long jump and moving the pole vault locations together. Brown says the pole vault area will be moved outside of the track to increase safety and accessibility.

"When they have football games here and when the players run out of bounds, they hit that running pad and there's been some slipping and twisted ankles-we want to eliminate that safety concern," Brown says.

There will also be updates to the drainage system on the south side of the field.

The plan is to eventually put turf in on the football field. All of the summer modifications will work towards that goal. Brown says having a turf field would make it more durble and easy to manage through the year.

If the district levy vote passes in the fall, part of the $44.8 million going towards Apollo for renovations would be used to install the turf.