After significant delays, work on Scarborough High School’s track is finally underway.

This summer, the school will see a completely new track installed that also comes with new equipment for discus, shot put, long jumps and more track and field sports.

More work on the site, from curbing to drainage systems, is also being conducted.

Originally authorized by voters as part of a $1.9 million referendum in 2021, which also included the installation of a new turf field, the track portion saw significant delays.

“So many sports complex projects in this region were delayed because the vendors couldn’t get the work done,” said Kate Bolton, the school district’s business and finance director, in an interview Thursday. “There’s only a handful of qualified vendors that do this kind of work in our area and everyone was overbooked as soon as COVID ended.”

Compounding the delay were two more factors: a need for warm weather and for construction to be done in a window where student athletes would not be making use of the facilities.

“It’s been a perfect storm of delays,” Bolton said.

The track has been closed to the public since May 28 and work is scheduled to finish up by mid-August.

Despite the lag time, the track upgrades are still on budget from the 2021 referendum. Some funding was added to a previous budget to add smaller projects in conjunction, Bolton said, such as fencing around the complex.

The project is a long time coming, with an initial proposal failing at the polls in 2019 before the 2021 passage.

“So many people in our community use the track, it’s not just the kids,” Bolton said. “We do appreciate the patience of the community. It’s been a long time coming and they’ve been putting up with inadequate conditions … we’re excited to get it going.”

The district has noted that the project’s timeline depends on fair weather. That especially applies to the final step of resurfacing the track, which requires a stretch of dry days.