Red Lion Area School District, York County, PA

As athletic programs continued to expand for students at Red Lion Area School District, it became a challenge for the District to improve or expand its existing facilities, in order to provide more opportunities for the student athletes. The school district came to FCE and asked the team to conduct a feasibility study to identify the existing conditions of the fields located at the Junior and Senior High Schools and provide recommendations on whether additional fields were warranted based on their current conditions.

Upon reviewing our analysis, we recommended the construction of additional fields to relieve the overscheduling of the existing fields and that Horn Field be converted to artificial turf to allow for additional play time without harming the quality of the field. FCE proceeded to perform a number of design improvements which would then be implemented by a general contractor. FCE assisted in the following:

• The softball field improvement, which included the design of a high-quality playing field with dugouts and a concession stand, as well as a practice field, which was a major part of this overall project. Pervious concrete was utilized around the concession stand to reduce the size of the required stormwater management system, which was designed to be placed below the practice field. The pervious concrete allows the rain to infiltrate into the water table, as it would prior to construction.
• The hallmark of the overall project was the conversion of Horn Field, Red Lion Area School District’s stadium, to artificial turf. The installation of artificial turf alleviated the school district’s scheduling overload by making it possible for more events to take place in this prime location than would be possible with natural grass. There was a significant difference in elevation between the end zones. To correct this, FCE designed a retaining wall which was constructed in front of the existing bleachers. The new artificial surface extended into the baseball field, creating the only artificial baseball field in York County.
• The installation of the artificial turf necessitated the design of an underdrain system and subsurface stormwater infiltration bed, designed by FCE, which mitigated the increase in stormwater that occurred as a result. Due to the high permeability of the sand and rubber infill, the runoff from the artificial turf field is more akin to a parking lot than a natural grass field.

After the last diploma was handed out on Horn Field in June of 2011, construction began on the football field. With FCE’s construction management services, the varsity football team was able to complete their first home game September 2, 2011.