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Turf for new Boardman stadium slated to be finished by end of month
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Carie Croutch of Boardman applies a Spartan decal to the back wall of the stands at Boardman’s football stadium during a scheduled cleanup day recently where students and community members gathered to get the stadium ready for the upcoming season. The turf section of the new stadium project is set to be finished by Labor Day.
BOARDMAN
The artificial turf that is being installed at the high-school field is slated to be complete by Labor Day weekend, according to director of operations Tim Saxton.
The installation of the turf is the first phase in the process of completely refurbishing the high school’s stadium facilities, which will include the construction of a new stadium on the high school’s campus.
The installation of the turf has been delayed by the weather, according to Saxton.
“I’d say right now we’re looking at one week behind, because, unfortunately, we had a wet summer,” Saxton said.
One roadblock to the construction of the stadium has been raising funds for the project, an effort that still is underway, according to Saxton and Boardman Booster Club President Bill Bonte.
The turf was paid for in part by donations from the 300 Club, a group of 300 donors who each agreed to pay $1,000, Saxton said.
The stadium will be paid for in a variety of ways, but primarily through donations from corporate sponsors. Although he would not give a specific figure at this stage, Bonte said the booster club has made significant progress in its fundraising efforts for the stadium.
“We’re getting ready to launch our corporate fundraising,” Saxton said. He said the booster club already has received large donations from Home Savings bank and Compco Industries, both of which have an agreement to have their names above main entrances to the stadium.
“Those are the two big ones; the rest we’re still working on,” Saxton said. He said they also are in talks with the Sweeney car dealership regarding naming privileges, which are given to sponsors who donate between $10,000 and $1,000,000.
“We’re still going after banks, car dealers, major businesses in the Boardman area. We are in talks with those people as far as what they might give and recognition levels,” Bonte said. He said the press box, field, stadium, scoreboard and seating sections all will be offered for naming privileges to sponsors.
Bonte said the booster club has to determine by March 2015 if they have enough money to proceed with the construction of the stadium. If they do, then construction will take place in the spring and summer of 2015, with the stadium slated to be complete by fall.
He said one option would be to start the construction process, and then add more stands at a later time when funding allows. He said one option would be to have just one side for the home viewers and visitors, and another would be to build a few sections on each side.
“Depending on funding, we can put four sections for the home and two for the visitors,” with the eventual goal of having seven sections in the home stand and four in the visitor stand, Bonte said.
Bonte said that though some community members, including himself, feel a certain nostalgia for the old football stadium on Market Street, the new facility is a great addition to the Boardman community.
“People played on that old stadium ... and there was nostalgia for keeping that as Boardman’s field,” Bonte said. “But I think what we’re building is so much more useful to the community, and for the football players.”
“We’re still in the midst of fundraising,” Bonte said. “We want to send out the message ... that this is a positive, educational project. We think of athletics as a positive aspect of education, and we want to improve the facilities, and they’re much overdue.
“They’ve been needed for a long time, and we’re trying to accomplish that.”