Foothills Composite High School has its field back — just in time for the defending rugby champions to try it out.
The school received word on April 10 the field can be safely used after it was closed for approximately three months due to higher than expected levels of methane.
“It is a relief,” said Vince Hunter, Foothills Composite principal. “Things will be picking up here right away. We didn’t have a place for our rugby teams to practice, our soccer teams will be playing right away, we wanted to continue to have a great school culture around those programs.”
The fields sit on top of a former landfill, which was decommissioned in the mid-1980s. The Comp opened in 1984 and the Town regularly tests methane levels at the fields.
Foothills students have not used the field since about mid November, when the Falcons football team practiced just prior to winning the Tier II provincial final.
The field and the adjacent Howard Park playground were closed on Jan. 10. Both were given the go-ahead to open on Monday.
The Town of Okotoks hired Athena Environmental Consultants Ltd to complete a number of tests throughout the site, which included checking methane levels as well as the landfill contents and cover.
“It was determined that the playing fields and Howard Park playground are safe for public use.” Brian Couronne, Okotoks facilities management manager said in a prepared statement. “There is one area on the east side slope that has thinner cover, which will be fenced off and repaired in the summer of 2017.”
While not having a field was a hindrance, fortunately it was closed during the winter when there is less outside activity.
“The timing was good — they waited for our football season to end before they carried on with their extended testing,” Hunter said.
At no time was students’ safety compromised, said Hunter.
“Everyone was being very forward thinking,” he said. “The timing was right (for the testing) in terms of building the nearby new arena. It was the right time to test that everything was safe and it definitely came back that everything was.”
The loss of the field had limited impact on Foothills and its sport teams.
“The rugby team used the field house for the first few practices but it hasn’t impacted anybody else,” Hunter said. “It was a bit of an inconvenience, but one of our concerns is we wanted to have home games. That’s an important part of our school culture.”
There will be further work done on the fields and the area.
Foothills School Division will add a top dressing of soil and new grass seed to the playing fields during the summer. This will improve the fields and provide an extra layer of coverage to the site. At the same time an interceptor trench, which is designed to constrain methane from the former landfill site, will be constructed as part of the Pason Centennial Arena expansion immediately north of the playing fields.
