Moose Jaw’s Gutheridge Field is getting a bit of a makeover when it comes to the track.

A track replacement to the tune of several hundred thousand dollars will see a new track placed there this year.

The process originally started last year but wasn't completed in time for the frost.

“It has been a little bit of a headache for us, getting it done,” said Prairie South Director of Education Tony Baldwin. “The application of the rubber requires a really specific weather condition that has to last for ten days.”

There needs to be warm weather than doesn’t see the temperature go below a certain degree. In addition to the delay last year, Baldwin said this spring had challenges in getting it done as well as it still wasn't warm enough.

He said the last time they did work on the track’s surface was about 20 years ago.

“I would hope for the same life again,” he said. “We work hard to take very good care of it because it is a fairly expensive endeavour to resurface it. We are really proud that we have the facility. We are one of the only school divisions in the province that has a track that is part of the school division.”

The track is used for football and most of the major track and field events in the city's high schools and elementary schools. In 2019, Gutheridge Field hosted SHSAA track and field provincials.

“Other school divisions are in communities where tracks like that exist, but they need to rent them and there’s very limited use that they’re allowed,” Baldwin said. “So we’re really, really fortunate that we have that and that Prairie South owns it because it means we have unlimited use for schools and kids, which is a really good deal.”