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Face lift started on track

Alice Campbell Havre Daily News [email protected]

The cracks and bald patches on the Havre Middle School track are well on their way to repair after roughly 35 volunteers removed the rubber surface Monday evening. The volunteers, organized by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, swept up the loose bits of surface and shoveled it into 10 drive-away dumpsters, Lee Christianson with Thrivent said. The volunteers were so eager, the available dumpsters were filled by 6 p.m., even though Christianson said they planned to work until 7 p.m. School staff finished the cleanup Tuesday morning, Jim Donovan, director of operations for Havre schools, said. The dumpsters filled with the old surface material currently sit at the landfill with the intention to grind it up and re-use it on the tiers at Blue Pony Stadium, Donovan said. Because the rubber contains no metal, unlike tires, there's a chance that it can be used again. "We're gonna have to see," Donovan said. Christianson said he's pleased with the effort to recycle. One of the concerns with the project was that the material would remain forever in a landfill, he said, adding that the "hope is that they're going to recycle this." A new rubber coating will be applied to the track later in the summer, Donovan said. The time frame is uncertain since certain day and nighttime temperatures are required For proper application, he added. He expects the project to be completed before the start of the next school year. The asphalt underneath the rubber that is currently exposed has several cracks in it. "There were seams that we knew were cracked," Donovan said, because the track above was cracking apart along the same lines. Triton Construction out of Marion, the firm applying the rubber, will fix the cracks before applying the new surface, he added. People can still use the bare track, Donovan said, even though it won't absorb some of the shock on joints like the rubber surface does. Thrivent organizes at least one or two volunteer activities in the community a year. They're in the process of choosing more projects, Christianson said and added that matching funds and work on First Lutheran Church's preschool playground is being planned already.

 

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