Mar 30, 2015 2 min read

Washington School District is putting the finishing touches on its high school stadium renovations.

The school board voted unanimously during a special meeting Monday afternoon to hire D&M Painting of Amwell Township to strip numerous layers of old paint from the stadium’s grandstands and apply new layers of primer and silver paint.

The work will cost $118,800 and is expected to coincide with other construction work to replace bleacher benches in time for football games in August.

The board also considered a bid from D&M to perform “spot painting” of isolated areas on the stands for about $50,000. However, district operations director Richard Mancini suggested the more extensive work because the bid came in less than expected, bringing it close in price to the renovation’s initial budget. He also said the finished product would last longer.

Mancini said the more comprehensive work should last 20 to 30 years and will finally remove several layers of lead-based paint currently on the stands. The stands will be sandblasted away “to the bare metal” and D&M will remove the excess paint.

D&M, which specializes in painting water towers and other tall structures, performed work on the high school stadium’s light towers in the early 2000s. The work is expected to begin in May and last about 45 days.

The school district spent more than $700,000 to install artificial turf on the field and another $249,000 to replace the bleachers, meaning the total cost of the project is coming in slightly over budget at about $1.1 million. The remaining $400,000 left for infrastructure improvements will be put in the district’s capital reserve fund.

The financing for the project was approved through a capital improvements bond that included updates to other district facilities, Superintendent Roberta DiLorenzo said.