What used to be under the surface will now soon be spread above it when mine tailings and waste rock is moved to fill in a sloped area behind Virginia City High School.
About 60,000 cubic yards of dirt will be moved to turn a rugged patch of Bureau of Land Management property into the Storey County School District's new football field.
The school board on Thursday approved advertising for a project manager to oversee the moving of fill from private property northwest of the high school on R Street to an area behind the school.
Storey County School Board Trustee Curt Chapman said a draft memorandum of understanding was completed with the BLM to lease the land for the field, which will be suitable for football, softball and baseball.
He said work on the project has been ongoing for more than five years.
In January, the board approved the hiring of a football coach.
Storey County Commissioner Greg "Bum" Hess told the school board that county workers will be willing to help out on the project whenever they are available, using county equipment.
The field was approved by the Comstock Historic District Commission this month.
Mark Struble, public affairs officer for the BLM's Carson office, said the draft agreement will have to be approved by the state Historic Preservation officer and the National Park Service. It will voted be on by the school board when it is completed.
"It's moving along, and we hope to have an agreement in a week or so," he said. "Once it's completed, they can start moving dirt."
The lease will be part of a plan of development authorized under the Recreation and Public Purposes Act, Struble said.
Pat Beckwith, Virginia City High School athletic director and principal, has said the field won't be ready for the start of the 2007 football season, so the team will play home games at other schools in the area.
The school's 154 students will play football in the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association's Class 1A.
• Contact reporter Karen Woodmansee at kwoodmansee@nevadaappeal.com or 882-2111, ext. 351.