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Welcome to Laurie Goodman's blog. I use this space to share news and opinions about education and schools in Ridgewood, the state of New Jersey and the nation, in addition to other issues I'm personally interested in. I invite you to share your thoughts, feelings, questions or opinions, too, by posting comments on any blog entry. Please observe basic courtesy -- keep your comments focused on issues, no personal attacks or bullying, please. Contact me directly at: lauriegood@mac.com

Monday, August 23, 2010

Fields were inundated last night...drained quickly today!


This is an unofficial and unscientific assessment, but my initial reaction to what I saw yesterday and today is that the new -- and as of now incomplete -- athletic fields at RHS and Stevens performed extremely well in the rain yesterday and last night. Yahoo!

Last night, the Stadium field was a giant lake...you could see the streetlights reflecting off the surface. (I'm trying to get a photo to post -- I forgot my camera last night when I just went to look.) Water was gushing over the bridge between the Stadium and Stevens. It was way too dark to see Stevens last night.

This morning...the water is drained! There is still standing water around the perimeter of the Stadium field, in the locations where it's just dirt and grass. But the actual playing field with its new drainage system is quite dry! (See photo) I don' think I've ever seen the Stadium that clear of water so soon after flooding.

That's not to say this rain isn't causing problems. I heard an unofficial report that every building that is currently undergoing a roofing project was leaking this morning. What a mess. Crews are currently assessing and coping with the rain, which is supposed to fall off-and-on for the next couple of days. It's never easy when you undergo major construction and the weather doesn't cooperate, so the contractors will certainly have their work cut out for them to get things in order before school starts in two weeks.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yea! Outdoor fields got wet and survived. Yet 5 of our 9 schools had significant flooding and ceiling damage. Reminiscent of Village Hall and several town vehicles flooding after the Taj rebuild. Money washed down the drain again.

Laurie said...

Haha! Don't be silly! You're joking, right? The roofs that leaked are the ones that are wide open or OFF because they are in the middle of being replaced or repaired! BF, whose roof project is already complete, is bone dry.

I don't know what super-powers you or your home contractor might have, but I don't know any roofer who can stop a torrential rain from falling into a roof that's under construction.

These things (aka weather) happen and the contractors will deal with it.

Anonymous said...

Laurie,

Is there a status update for these projects? Will they get completed within the next 2 weeks? Primarily the various roof projects and the fields.

I read the article by Dr. Fishbein in this weeks Ridgewood News, he didn't mention any actual dates (understandable) but there are only 2 weeks before students arrive.

Since they just started the BF field about 2-3 weeks ago, I'll assume that won't be completed prior to students arriving. What precautions will be taken to keep our students safe?

Thanks!

Laurie said...

Before the rain, everything was pretty much on schedule. Not sure yet what the schedule impact, if any, will be.

The HS fields are scheduled to be complete at the end of September. BF's completion is set for Nov. 4.

In terms of safety around incomplete projects after school starts, students will be restricted from those areas. As for use, principals have made arrangements to use other facilities. For example BF will use Travell fields or Maple.