The Perry School Board will meet Friday evening in a special session.

The purpose of the meeting is to approve the civil engineer contract for the Dewey Field improvement project. At the August regular meeting, Board President Kyle Baxter said he and other school administrators had met with three different architecture firms regarding the project. On Friday the Board is expected to approve a contract with Larson Engineering. Once the contract is official, the firm will being working on the master plan for the facility in September. By January they hope to start the bid process, and construction would then start in April. If all goes well, the new football complex will be ready for use in the 2018-19 school year.

The project was kickstarted by a $350,000 matching funds donation from the family of the late Pete VanKirk. VanKirk was a constant supporter of the Perry School District and a big football fan, and his family thought helping to fund the Dewey Field improvements was a fitting tribute to him. The special meeting is open to the public and will be held at 5 p.m. in the high school’s Brady Library.