A project was submitted to the NC State Office of Finance and Administration for the resurfacing of the Paul H. Derr track inside Dail Stadium. The project calls for a complete resurfacing of the current “rubberized running surface” and awaits approval at the turn of the budget year.
Paul H. Derr track was improved in 2008 as part of a $5 million upgrade to Dail Stadium. If the resurfacing project is approved by the Office of Finance and Administration, the track will most likely undergo the procedure sometime during the summer of 2017.
James Greenwell, the senior associate athletic director for strategic resource allocation and risk management at NC State, is optimistic about the university undertaking the project.
“We have every reason to believe that it will be funded next year,” Greenwell said. “So we would probably get started on that project maybe as early as June, but more likely a little bit later, like the middle of the year.”
The project was submitted to a maintenance request list roughly six to eight months ago.
“It’s just something that we keep track of every year,” Greenwell said. “We do walkthroughs of the track, we pay attention to anything that the coaches tell us about the performance of the track. You start to get to this point where you say ‘We’re going to need to resurface it in the next year or two,’ and that’s when we start to look for a place on the budget.”
Greenwell stated that the process for deciding when to resurface a track is a unique and tricky decision to make.
“It’s not exact science,” Greenwell said. “A lot of it is, you’re looking at [the track], you’re trying to use your best judgment whether you should get that project done so you get the best bang for your buck and the best use out of the surface that you had. But you also don’t let the project wait long enough to where the older surface becomes an eyesore or you see a reduction in performance of the track.”
The decision must also be made of whether or not to upgrade the quality of material for the resurfacing of the track. Currently, Paul H. Derr track is composed of a rubberized all-purpose material. Another option for the resurfacing would be a material called Mondo that is used on Olympic tracks.
“We want to lean on our coaches a lot of times to give us feedback on the kind of surface that they believe is best for their athletes,” Greenwell said.
Rollie Geiger, the head coach for men’s and women’s cross country as well as track and field, prefers the current “rubberized” surface.
One possibility when it comes to resurfacing tracks is the change of layout for designated areas such as the various sand pits and the pole vault. As it looks right now, the current layout will be upheld through the process.
If the project is approved, Greenwell estimates that the entire construction will take roughly a month. He says that the actual resurfacing would probably take between two to three weeks. After the material has solidified, a few days would be needed to paint the surface. Finally, a couple more days might be needed for miscellaneous tasks.
“It’s amazing, absolutely amazing, the difference that makes when all that rubber gets poured on and it gets brightened up,” Greenwell said. “It’s not just an item that lets everybody know that ‘hey, it’s going to work better for you,’ but it makes everybody feel better about the track too when they see everything renewed and refinished.”
Greenwell very roughly estimated that the entire project could fall somewhere between the $450,000 to $500,000 range.
The track is currently open for all faculty, students and staff to use on Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
A version of this article appeared in print on Oct. 20, 2016 on page 14 with the headline: Derr to get facelift
