Workers will dismantle a portion of the visiting bleachers on the south side of Hammer Field in the coming months to make the rest of the fan seating safer.

Tuesday, November 06, 2001

Workers will dismantle a portion of the visiting bleachers on the south side of Hammer Field in the coming months to make the rest of the fan seating safer.

According to Bruce Olson, facilities and transportation director for Albert Lea Schools, the project involves using the removed bleachers to fill in the gaps in the rest of the bleachers to avoid the possibility of young children slipping through and getting injured.

After a rash of deaths and injuries involving bleachers in 1998 and 1999, the state legislature enacted a law requiring all school districts to either replace or reconfigure their bleachers to narrow the gaps between levels to no more than four inches.

&uot;It’s a project we have to take care of in the next two months,&uot; Olson told the school board Monday. &uot;We can’t really get around it.&uot;

The board awarded the project to Larson Contracting for $35,025. Work must be completed by Jan. 1.

Olson said the bleacher modifications will be paid for from the health and safety budget.

When the project is completed, the bleachers on the visiting side will have about one-third to one-half less seating, Olson said.

&uot;I’ve never seen those bleachers close to full, so I don’t think it will have much of an effect,&uot; he said.

In other school board news:

n Finance Director Mark Stotts said teacher negotiations are &uot;moving ahead&uot; but still far from a final agreement. Discussions about transfer policies, personal leave, preparation time and retirement are still on the table.

&uot;At this point, we’re not really near a settlement yet,&uot; Stotts told the board.

n The board approved a $50,000 rental agreement with the city for use of the City Arena for upcoming hockey season. Olson said the agreement is virtually identical to the last two rental agreements.

n Heidi Cunningham, director of community education, shared several statistics with the board from an annual report prepared for the Minnesota Department of Children, Families and Learning. General Community Education classes and activities serve more than 3,370 youth, 1,640 adults and 1,350 seniors.