The culprits for the delay: The coronavirus and a harsh Texas winter impacting a key supplier.
“Our original completion date for the Turf Project was set to be Sept. 10. Due to shortage of urethane, which stemmed from Covid-19 and the unusually harsh winter in Texas, our project has been delayed,” said Madison school officials.
Earlier this year Madison officials heralded a $133,000 NFL grant for putting the school community fund-raising to its goal of having the field installed in time for most of the fall season of the coming 2020-2021 school year.
The postponement of the new field has school officials scrambling to find other area venues and scheduling changes for some of the early games of fall season school sports originally scheduled to be played at home in September and early October.
“We are diligently looking to move home games, where possible, to different venues. We are also attempting to move home events to later in the season, so that they can be played on the new turf field. Thank you for your patience and understanding. We are excited to get this project underway, so our … athletes will have the field that they have been promised.”
Now the delay appears to be even longer, into mid-October.
Officials from the company Madison purchased the new field from - The Motz Group – released a statement last week shared by Madison schools saying: “Due to supply chain delays in raw materials, Madison Local School District’s synthetic turf order delivery is currently projected to be delayed by approximately five weeks.”
“This is a challenge the synthetic turf industry is facing across the country. The quality and craftsmanship of the field will be as expected and as promised, along with the dedicated service guaranteed to follow the installation,” said Motz officials.
“The information shared is based on data we have today. We will continue to inform you as updates and new details become available.”
Madison was one of only two remaining Butler County public school systems – the other being New Miami Schools - to use a natural grass field for football and other boys’ and girls’ sports.
The approximately $1 million field has been actively sought by Madison since the high school’s historic run deep into the state football playoffs in 2017.
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