A $13 million building project in Palmerton Area School District is progressing as expected, according to district officials and the architectural firm providing updates on the work.

Tim Sisock, of Barry Isett and Associates, updated the school board last week on the status of improvements at the high school stadium and junior high school complex.Work includes upgrading the existing athletic stadium to a synthetic turf field, adding an eight-lane synthetic track, bleachers, earthwork, utility improvements and the installation of underground detention systems.The district awarded four contracts, including general construction, to Penn Builders Inc. ($8,669,350); plumbing construction to Myco Mechanical Inc. ($963,900); heating, ventilation and air conditioning construction to JBM Mechanical Inc. ($2,384,100) and electrical construction to George J. Hayden ($993,600).All topsoil from the main athletic field has been removed and placed on the adjacent practice field."That topsoil will be used at the practice field, which will come up 3 feet," Sisock said.Two half-moons are visible at the end of each end zone. They will serve as infiltration basins for turf drainage."It is designed specifically to the site to capture the stormwater needed to not compromise the existing stormwater management system," Sisock said.When the turf is complete, the words Palmerton and Blue Bombers will be stitched into the respective end zones.Game lines for football, field hockey and soccer will also be stitched directly into the turf.The track surface will be painted in the Sherwin Williams "Blueblood" color.Under its contract agreement, the district is shooting for an Aug. 25 completion date in time for the first home football game on Sept. 8."We're working on an agreement with Lehighton Area School District in terms of our teams being able to practice there until our fields are ready," Palmerton Superintendent Scot Engler said. "There should be something for both districts to approve shortly."On the opposite side of the property, crews are clearing the way for the addition of a softball field."The trees have been cleared and the remnants were hauled in 30 truckloads," Sisock said. "You can see the Blue Mountain range and the back end of Palmerton Lumber. Fortunately, most of the large boulders were within the first foot of soil."The district has also given up half of its junior high school parking lot as a 13,000-square-foot addition to the building gets underway."They'll be putting in concrete footers and digging for the foundation in the next few weeks," Sisock said. "They're moving pretty good on that. The contractor brought some of its best equipment and was fortunate to get started on that earlier than we anticipated."