Drive by the Kingfisher High School football field during the summer and fall months and chances are you’d find Jeff Myers or Gary Sewell sitting on a mower, mindlessly driving back and forth.

It’s a process that had to be repeated every other day for years on end.

Didn’t matter if it was 75 degrees outside or 105.

The grass had to be mowed. Similar care had to be provided at the high school softball field as well.

But no more. Kingfisher’s board of education voted unanimously Thursday during a special meeting to approve a lease-purchase plan that will see artificial turf installed at the football/ soccer fields as well as the north softball field.

“It’s going to be something you’ll be proud of,” Superintendent David Glover told board members.

The board voted at its regular meeting earlier this month to hire Stephen H. McDonald & Associates as a financial advisor for the lease-purchase.

The cost estimate for the two projects is $1.7 million. The district will acquire $2 million to allow for any contingencies.

The lease-purchase will be for five years.

“But we don’t have to go the full five years,” Glover said. “If we decided we want to pay it all off next year, we can do that.”

The district has the funds for the project, but the board earlier this spring approved a $6.2 million project to renovate Gilmour Elementary School.

“The lease-purchase will enable me to more easily budget everything over the next couple of years,” Glover said.

RamTurf is the surface that will be installed by ATG Sports, which has offices in Kansas and Missouri.

The same company installed the synthetic surface at Watonga’s football stadium last summer and recently completed a project for a new baseball and softball complex at Okarche.

ATG Sports will begin the project at the football field next Tuesday, the day after the final home soccer game of the season.

The projects are expected to be completed by mid-July, Glover said.

The synthetic surface comes with an eight-year warranty. As part of the project, the district will also be getting two new goalposts, two new soccer goals and a sweeper/ groomer to provide upkeep on the surfaces.

The football/soccer field will have markings for both sports, but in different colors to distinguish between the two.

It will feature Kingfisher’s “Yellowjacket” logo at midfield and will have a “K” at around the 20- or 25-yard line on each end.

The north end zone will have the word “KINGFISHER” in gold letters with a blue background while the south end zone will spell out “YELLOWJACKETS.”

The softball field will have a large yellowjacket in centerfield.

Both the infield and outfi eld - like Okarche’s new fields - will be synthetic. There will also be new bullpens installed and there will be new fencing from the backstop to the outfield fence.

It’s a move that has Kingfi sher’s football and soccer coaches excited about next season…and for a variety of reasons. ( Ed. note: Danny Green has been the KHS head softball coach for eight seasons. Though he’ll remain on staff, Green has resigned his softball coaching duties. A new softball head coach is expected to be approved at the May regular meeting.)

“From a financial side, it’s going to save money on water and fertilizer costs, not to mention the money saved on mowing and mower maintenance,” said Myers. “And since I’m the one who’s been doing most of that the last 20 years, it doesn’t make me sad.”

Then Myers looked at it from a coach’s point of view.

The synthetic turf won’t be damaged or worn down by excessive use like the natural grass field, he said.

“It’s going to open up all kinds of options for workouts and drills for our all-sport Summer Pride program,” Myers said.

“It will also give us an option for practice if we chose to use it, but will definitely help when it gets late in the season and practice fields get brown and dead and worn out. It will also let us practice when we have had a lot of rain, which really isn’t an option we have now.”

It isn’t just a benefit for athletics.

When asked if turf will benefit the band program, KPS director Mandy Owens had a quick answer.

“Definitely!,” she replied.

During marching band competitions, the band has practiced on a marked corner of the KHS parking lot.

“Being able to rehearse daily on turf will be an enormous blessing,” Owens said.

“All of our marching contests take place on turf fields. We are excited for our students to become adjusted to marching on a proper turf field.”

The turf project is only the most recent construction that will begin at the football stadium.

A locker room facility for the soccer teams and junior high football teams is in the beginning phases on the field’s south end. The concession stand and restrooms are also being completely remodeled.

“With the addition of the turf and the new south end zone locker rooms, it will provide a lot better atmosphere for players and fans to come in and watch the games,” said boys soccer coach Isaac Waltman.

“It will also provide another place where we can hold practice, especially if we’ve had wet weather, but also adds the possibility of us hosting tournaments in the future since we will have a nice game field that we can be on as well as the practice field behind the school.”

Girls soccer coach Aniessa Edsall echoed the possibility of hosting a tournament or festival.

“The wear and tear on the turf will be insignificant compared to the grass,” she said.

Edsall noted the grass doesn’t start to turn green until mid-April.

“So when we have scrimmages in early February and games in early March, we’re playing on dead yellow and brown grass,” she said. “So, we have only a few games with good looking grass.”

There’s also the cost of painting the field prior to football and soccer games.

“You’ve cut out paint costs, which helps out our growing programs,” Edsall said. “And if it rains, we’re not going to be wondering if the field is in good enough condition to be played on or if we could even reschedule a game in our already tight schedule.”

Then, she added, there’s the bonus of KHS athletes playing on a top-of-the-line surface that gets multiplied with the new locker room.

“I believe our athletes will start to walk a little taller and have pride in their facilities,” she said.

“I’m thankful the decision was made.”

The move was approved by board members Charles Walker, Terry Payne and Dana Golbek as well as Brad Wittrock, who was sworn into office at the beginning of the meeting. ( Ed. note: See related story.)

Carly Franks was unable to attend the noon meeting.