P-CEP JV field on verge of reopening … with 1 noticeable change
The new turf has been installed on the Plymouth-Canton Educational Park’s west turf stadium.
Eight months after flooding caused by torrential rains made the artificial turf playing surface on the Plymouth-Canton Educational Park’s west turf stadium unusable, the venue is close to reopening — much to the relief of the Park’s spring sports coaches and athletes who have been forced to juggle practice and game schedules since their seasons commenced in March.
When contacted by SocialHouseNews.com on April 15, a Plymouth-Canton Community Schools administrator said an exact reopening date for the west turf field had not been set in stone yet since the complete turf replacement project was a fluid situation.
Along with the altering of fall 2023 and spring 2024 schedules for the three high schools that utilize the stadium, practices for the Plymouth High School track-and-field teams have been moved to Liberty Middle School until the project was completed, SHN learned.
In January, members of the Plymouth-Canton Schools Board of Education approved a bid of $488,476 from Novi-based AstroTurf to replace the damaged turf, which had safety-threatening seam separations and waves “across the entire” playing surface, according to a school district memo.
Expedited timeline
The memo urged “fast action on the request” in order for the stadium to be functional by August of 2024. The timeline for reopening the stadium has moved up to May, multiple coaches have told SHN — a development that should ease the P-CEP’s spring season venue logjam.
One noticeable change in the new turf installed on the west field is the three P-CEP high schools’ logos printed near the north end zone have been replaced by the first letter of each school — possibly because an official Cobra logo has not been approved to replace the Chief arrowhead logo that was taken out of commission by the school district.
Each of the three schools’ logos printed near the north end zone on the east turf field will have to be replaced at a total cost of $17,000 due to the retirement of Canton’s arrowhead logo.
If things go as planned, P-CEP athletes and coaches will have a third stadium at their disposable in a few months as an under-construction venue near the intersection of Joy and Canton Center roads is projected to be completed in the fall.
Drawings of what the new stadium will look like are not yet available, according to Plymouth-Canton Community Schools communications department representatives.
Ed Wright can be reached at 734-664-4657 or edwright@socialhousenews.com.
