Plan or program · on the record since 2025 · discussed in 15 transcribed meetings

Softball Field

The FHS softball field renovation/turf conversion project involves replacing the current grass field with artificial turf at an estimated cost of $2.5 million, a figure confirmed as still accurate as of late 2025 after earlier review.

Project

CIP Update

in progress

The Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) is an ongoing multi-year budget process tracking planned investments across school, parks, and municipal facilities. On October 20, 2025, Acting Superintendent Dan Phillips presented an updated CIP budget to the School Board during a work session, incorporating added HVAC funding and revised cost estimates for the football turf field replacement and softball field; that updated CIP was slated to be formally brought to the next regular school board meeting.

Oct 20, 2025School Board · item 1.03
CIP Update
[1.03] Updated costs for the softball field were included in the revised CIP budget presented at this work session.
minutes agenda

Other mentions

Dec 11, 2025Parks and Recreation Advisory Board · item 5din progress
Stakeholder Update – Planning Commission (Matt Rice)
The FHS softball field renovation appears in the current draft Capital Improvement Program as a project of interest to PRAB.
minutes agenda

In full

The project has been included in the school district's Capital Improvement Program (CIP) for multiple planning cycles. As of October 2025, the $2.5 million estimate was reconfirmed with no increase. The updated CIP was presented at the October 20, 2025 School Board Work Session and was slated for presentation at the next regular meeting.

As of December 2025, the FHS softball field renovation was also flagged during the Planning Commission's annual capital facilities review (per Virginia §15.2-2204) as a project of interest to PRAB. By September–October 2026, the project was still being discussed in the context of the school board's CIP deliberations, with a proposed FY28 funding column noted but not yet approved; a board vote was anticipated for November 2026, after which the CIP would proceed to the Mayor, City Council, and Planning Commission before any final city council vote in May.

Status

in progress

Status set at the PRAB Regular Meeting on Dec 11, 2025

Still open

The school board has not yet voted on the CIP that includes the softball field for FY28; a vote is anticipated in November 2026, followed by City Council and Planning Commission review and a final city council vote in May.
Whether the softball field renovation will include upgrades to the press box (raised as a question in the October 5, 2026 discussion but not answered in the available record).
Whether a community or private partnership could be pursued to help fund the softball field, as informally suggested at the September 28, 2026 meeting.
PRAB feedback on the FHS softball field renovation was requested, possibly as a January agenda item following the December 2025 Planning Commission stakeholder update.

What members have said

Unattributed board/commission member (2025-10-06)
Asked why materials other than turf are being considered for the softball field and noted the need to ensure Title IX compliance parity with the baseball field, which already has turf.
Unattributed board member (2025-10-20)
Argued that the project should move forward decisively rather than be deferred year after year, stating 'at some point you just say, let's go in and do the project and then figure out what we need to do to make it work rather than just delay it for another year.'
Unattributed PRAB member (2025-12-08)
Expressed skepticism about the priority of the $2.5 million softball field conversion relative to safety and security needs, asking that more information be gathered about its condition and necessity, while noting they lacked sufficient information to make a firm judgment.
Unattributed board/commission member (2026-02-09)
Noted that the softball field (along with restroom/entrance enhancements and turf replacement) did not rise to the same priority level as security-related CIP items in their view, contextualizing it among competing projects.
Unattributed board member (2026-09-28)
Indicated that HVAC at the high school and middle school are their top CIP priorities, but floated the idea of seeking community or partner funding for the auditorium and softball field, describing both as community-use areas.

Positions as recorded in meeting minutes; votes without recorded comment aren’t summarized.

Discussion timecouncilcommission