New Track coming to LBHS

Botetourt County Schools received the nod to use more than $305,000 of its Capital Reserve Fund to replace the exterior athletic track and fix drainage issues at Lord Botetourt High School when the Board of Supervisors met on April 25, 2023. The meeting was held at the Botetourt County Administration Center at Greenfield in Amsterdam.

A spokesperson for the schools reported that the high school has been unable to hold a track meet since 2018 and that the track team uses only parts of the track for practice because the track is unsafe. The spokesperson said the track had not been repaired or had upkeep on it for more than 25 years. “We have approximately 100 student athletes using that track,” the spokesperson said. He added that physical education students and other athletic teams also use the track.

Amsterdam District Supervisor Steve Clinton questioned how the track could have deteriorated to the point of being unusable. “It’s almost incomprehensible,” he said.

Chairman Mac Scothorn, Valley District Supervisor, asked if tracks at other schools were in need of repair. The supervisors were told that Read Mountain and Central Academy Middle School both had tracks in need of either replacement or repair.

The balance in the School Capital Reserve Fund is currently $1,697,522.34, with total outstanding requests of $93,100. The total project cost for the track replacement and drainage issues was estimated at $550,000, with the remainder of the cost being funded by a school construction grant.

This project is one of the identified Capital projects that the Board of Supervisors and School Board have been pushing to complete

The Supervisors unanimously approved the funding for the track replacement and drainage work.

                                                            — Anita Firebaugh, Special to The Botetourt Bee