The Director of Education for the St. Clair Catholic District School Board hopes students will be using a new state-of-the-art track in Sarnia one year from now.
Scott Johnson has announced a significant upgrade for the catholic high school on The Rapids Parkway.
"We're very excited to announce that we are putting just over $1 million into a track upgrade at St. Patrick's [High School]," said Johnson. "When we rebuilt the school in 2014, we did not have enough funds to add to the track at the time and so we are now taking advantage of the opportunity to work with CSC Providence to add a new track that will benefit our elementary and secondary students in Sarnia-Lambton."
He said the design includes many features.
"We're going to have a six lane track and an eight lane 100 metre stretch. We'll have a new long jump, triple jump pit, javelin runway, high jump runway, discus circle with fenced cage, bleacher pad and perimeter fencing along the track area as well," he said.
Johnson said the existing track hasn't been used for some time.
"Since the pandemic, we've had to use other tracks in the area. It just hasn't been maintained to a level where it could be safely utilized for training and for competition," he said.
Construction of the rubberized track is expected to start this summer.
"There's varying degrees to the rubberized track that you can purchase, but we're looking to have something that's a softer surface and a faster surface than your typical asphalt," Johnson said.
He said it will be nice to have a first-rate facility again for local athletes.
"When St. Patrick's on East Street had its rubberized track, it was considered to be one of the fastest tracks in Ontario according to local track coaches. So, we're looking to see something similar that provides a great experience for our competitors from elementary right through to high school," he said.
A portion of the property planned for construction is owned by the Conseil scolaire catholique Providence (CSC Providence).
"The property line between the two schools is almost midway through the current track, so it's a pleasure to work with CSC Providence to find a way where we can both contribute to revitalizing the track and they will offer a pro-rated support to the track based on their population of students compared to ours," said Johnson.
Based on enrollment at October 31, 2022, Johnson said the CSC Providence share of the project will be seven per cent of the total cost.
The remainder of the project cost will be funded by St. Clair Catholic’s School Renewal Allocation.