BROOKINGS – The proposed upgrades to Bob Shelden Athletic Complex also came up during Monday’s Brookings School Board meeting, with members feeling some sticker shock.

Depending on which option is chosen, the school district could be asked to pay $820,000 (subvarsity football field stays at Bob Shelden) or about $1 million (subvarsity football field relocated to track area).

“It’s rather challenging given the fact that this was not on our radar when we completed our comprehensive facility plan,” explained Brookings School District Superintendent Klint Willert.

There’s been talk of holding a community fundraising effort in order to ease the cost of the project, according to Willert, but such an effort hasn’t been decided upon.

How much of a say the school district has in this process was an area of concern for board members.

“I’d like to understand what our rights are here, if we’re at the mercy of a decision made by others and we have no choice but to spend several hundred thousand dollars to make it right on our end, or if we have some say in this,” school board member Steve Bayer said.

“I think we have to figure out how that works,” Willert said, later adding, “but by no means does this require us to participate. But if we don’t, we’re going to have to find an alternative to that as a playing surface.”

That’s because having a football field that’s partially turf and partially artificial turf is a safety hazard and therefore not an option in their eyes.

One alternative that has apparently been discussed is repairing and upgrading the track at Mickelson Middle School, which is “in a serious state of disrepair,” according to Willert, instead of using school funds at Bob Shelden. With the upgrades, it could then be used as a subvarsity football field and, hopefully, for a lower cost than what’s being asked for at Bob Shelden.

“We’re weighing all of our options as we move forward,” Willert assured the school board members, “because, again, this was not part of our comprehensive master plan process and is a significant amount of money.”

Contact Eric Sandbulte at esandbulte@brookingsregister.com.