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With bulldozers plowing through mounds of dirt, and jackhammers piledriving through slabs of cement, the new Chisago Lakes football stadium project moves toward reality.

It also becomes more and more of a headache to work around.

Along with the monumentous task of building a $2.9 million stadium project, other minor school renovations and upkeep at the middle schools and elementary schools will entangle much school district space over the summer.

The Chisago Lakes Primary School will be closed because of repairs being made to the roof and window replacements. The playground and ball fields at the primary school, however, will be open for use.

A majority of Taylors Falls Elementary will also be closed this summer for construction of six new classrooms. March 31, the existing portable classrooms were demolished after years of use, and the six new rooms will finally be a permanent part of the school. TF Elementary will not be available for any activites over the summer, according to the school board.

Summer school, which is traditionally held in the high school, will be moved to the Chisago Lakes Middle School. Even then, the middle school is only half-open, on the west end. The bus lanes and east side of the school will be closed.

The high school will still mostly be open, with the Performing Arts Center and the front of the school still fully functional, but with limited parking. There will be parts of the school that are closed, though, including the side parking lot. "Since there will be so much construction activity at the high school and we want to provide a safe environment to all those involved, access to both the high school building and the site will be very limited," the school said in a construction update.

Community Education Director Bob Meyer doesn't foresee any major problems for any of the community education programs over the summer. Maybe a few hiccups in program locations, but a smooth transition nonetheless, he said.

"We have been able to adjust and work around most of the construction," Meyer said. "All of our basketball, volleyball, dance, and wrestling camps will not be affected."

Meyer continued, saying with the slight changes that have been made already, "We have to be a little more creative with our summer weightlifting and speed program without a track, but we will be able to accommodate most of our running using the baseball field," he said.

According to Chisago Lakes Director of Business Services Heide Miller, the bleachers and the press box have already been ordered, and the installation of the field turf was tentatively beginning on Monday, July 7.

The bleachers include permanent seating for 2,800 spectators -- 2,000 on the home side, and 800 on the visiting side -- and 1,000 more bleachers that overlook the track. The track seating, however, will be on wheels, and can be easily moved to the visitors side of the football field if needed.

Including the bleachers, press box, ticket box and extra space around the field, the fenced-in area will come in a shade under 100,000 square feet in total.

Curt Peterson, the project manager, and one of the co-owners of Peterson Companies, who's in charge of the whole operation, said the company hopes to have the entire field completed for the last football game of the season on Wednesday, October 15.

"Construction is running smooth. The major dirt work is done, and now we just need good weather," he said, hoping this common occurence of rain lately dies down into a mid-summer heatwave.

Another hurdle for Peterson and his crew is the special installation needed to bring a turf field to Chisago Lakes High School instead of a traditional grass field.

He explained that the process of installing the synthetic field is more tedious than developing a normal field.

The base includes two feet of select granular sand that is very fine. The second phase includes eight inches of granite rock, which according to Peterson is exceptional rock for drainage.

On top of the rock goes the three-inch thick layer of faux grass. After the carpeting of grass has been laid, it is filled in with a mixture of smooth, rounded silica sand and rubber granules reclaimed from tires.

There will also be drain tiles installed every 10 feet on the field because a synthetic grass field needs drainage.

And any worry about the rough Minnesota elements having an adverse effect on the turf was dispelled by the company supplying the turf. According to FieldTurf, "Our fields are made to be plowed without any damage. From Minneapolis to Moscow, our fields perform in the most extreme conditions."

FieldTurf counts professional football stadiums like those used by the Minnesota Vikings, Indianapolis Colts, New England Patriots and New York Giants as just a few of their thousands of installs.

According to Scott Johnson, the schools' representative from ICS Consulting, factors such as the economy, and the multi-project package Chisago Lakes had laid out, created a competitve bid market for the job.

"It is a good deal for the school," Johnson said. "I can't stress enough that everybody's effort in all the projects created good, competitive bidding."

In all, Johnson said the project at the high school includes adding four softball fields, three soccer fields, and about 170 extra parking stalls.

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