BY MATT MACKINDER
Clarkston News Staff Writer

Clarkston Community Schools recently received a 2018 Distinguished Facility Award from the American Sports Builders Association.
The honor was for the renovation of the multi-purpose synthetic turf field at Clarkston High School.
The turf field was replaced in the spring of 2017 with a brand-new turf system and a new track and fencing. The new turf was just one of the many campus updates made possible by the support of Clarkston voters, who passed a $76 million school improvement bond in 2016.
“With the support of the Clarkston community, we were able to create a state-of-the-art field for sports, PE classes, marching band performances, and more,” said CCS Superintendent Shawn Ryan. “We are grateful that this effort was recognized the ASBA.”
ASBA is a national organization for builders, designers, and suppliers of materials for synthetic turf fields and other athletic surfaces. The organization offers an annual awards program to recognize excellence in design, construction, and renovation.
With the CHS field serving so many different activities requiring extensive planning for appropriate striping, the existing drainage patterns and grading of the field was critical for engineering a solution that would perform well.
“I was honored to work with AUCH and ATurf with the project,” said CHS Athletic Director Jeff Kosin. “Both companies were very knowledgeable and worked with me along the way to assure I was getting the custom turf I was looking for. The fact that our turf was recognized for an award is a great feeling, knowing that the time spent on the project was worth it for our student-athletes as well as our community. I want to provide the best for our student-athletes, and I was excited that the field brought so much pride to the school community.
“The level of excellence at Clarkston is set very high and the field did not disappoint.”
The field was designed by GMB Architecture + Engineering.
The ASBA is a national organization for builders, designers, and suppliers of materials for tennis courts, running tracks, natural and synthetic turf fields, and indoor and outdoor synthetic sport surfaces.
GMB Architecture + Engineering is an architecture and engineering design firm serving higher education, healthcare, corporate, industrial, and K-12 education organizations. In business more than 50 years, GMB is based in Holland, with offices in Grand Rapids, Royal Oak, and Indianapolis.