Setting stadium gossip straight
Sanitary sewer repair ; Turf won’t be torn up; cost said to be less than $500,000By JESSE HELLING, Messenger staff writer
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Rumors are flying about Dodger Stadium.
The talk surrounds a blocked sanitary sewer line under Dodger Stadium, according to Chris Darling, director of operations for the Fort Dodge Community School District.
Among information circulating in the community, Darling said, is that houses near Dodger Stadium are having water problems, the football field is in danger of cave-in and the problem will cost half a million dollars to fix.
''That is false,'' he said.
While it is true that a pipe is blocked, preliminary inquiries indicate that the solution to the problem will cost far less than $500,000, Darling said, although a formal estimate has not been made.
Nor will the playing field, which was recently upgraded with artificial turf as part of an ongoing stadium restoration project, need to be torn up, he said.
The blockage involves a clay tile pipe running roughly under the 23-yard line on the south side of the field. It was discovered during a routine check by the city, Darling said.
''It hadn't caused problems yet,'' he said. ''This system is not taxed too much.''
The only area the line still serves are the maintenance and visitors restrooms on the east side of the stadium, which have been shut down until the sanitary sewer situation is fixed, Darling said.
''The district has brought in portable bathrooms and hand-washing units for the remainder of the football season,'' he said.
The pipe originally served the houses that stood on the site that were torn down, Darling said. But no private homes are presently connected to the line, according to Darling.
The pipe does not appear on the original, circa-1940 blueprints of the stadium, which were reviewed by Midwest Fieldturf of Denison, the company that completed the turf project this summer.
Although the turf project involved using heavy machinery in the vicinity of the pipe, the blockage had more to do with the age of the line, said Jan Merz, a member of the Fort Dodge school board.
Midwest Fieldturf is not being held responsible for the damages, Merz said.
City and school district workers have conducted a review of how exactly water flows from the stadium, Darling said.
''We ran cameras down the sinks, stools and drains,'' he said.
Al Dorothy, Fort Dodge superintendent of public works, said that the city examined the line last week to verify the blockage.
As a private line, the school district is responsible for maintenance, Dorothy said.
''They've looked at our records to see how they could reroute their sanitary sewers,'' he said.
That option, which would involve filling in the blocked line, is one of several under consideration by the school district, Darling said.
Under that plan, a new pipe would be laid to serve the east side of the stadium.
This would involve tearing up a section of asphalt near the east side restrooms, but would leave the playing field intact, Darling said.
Funding for that project would come from physical plant and equipment levy revenues, according to Merz.
Contact Jesse Helling at (515) 573-2141 or jhelling@messengernews.net
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DHFERGUS
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09-25-08 11:54 PM
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I cant believe Fort Dodge residents would let a little thing like facts stand in the way of gossip.
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