Scott Swanson
A proposed artificial turf field for Husky Stadium is rapidly becoming reality.
Organizers of the effort met last week to work through scheduling details and finalize a plan for recognizing donors to the project, which would include replacing the natural-grass field with artificial turf and resurfacing the track. The cost for all of that will total close to $1.4 million. As of last week, they had close to $1.3 million of that, either in hand or committed funds.
Proponents of the project say the new field will allow nearly constant use of the stadium facility for a variety of athletics, unlike the current grass field, which rapidly deteriorates during the football season and costs $25,000 to $30,000 annually for irrigation, mowing and maintenance.
With the artificial turf, it would become the main soccer, as well as football, field and could be used for softball and baseball practice as well as PE and cheerleading, organizers say – essentially, a community center for outdoor activities.
“This isn’t just an atheletic field,” said organizing committee Co-Chair Larry Horton.
Horton noted at the meeting that organizers have a commitment of $900,000 from the Community Sports Development Council, $110,000 in in-kind donations, a commitment of up to $195,000 from the school district and $70,000 from three large donors.
The Community Sports Development Council is a non-profit national alliance of sponsors and funding partners that have committed significant annual resources to support the development of sports fields and community indoor sports centers.
“We still need to raise about $150,000,” he said. Horton and others said they expect other local donors to step up with the funds necessary to finish the project.
Horton, who engineered the construction of new tennis courts at the high school when he was school district superintendent, said he has applied for a number of grants, totaling about $150,000, from various foundations and organizations. But he said local donations will be needed.
Football Coach Dustin Nichol said the project currently has two major local donors of funds, $30,000 from Rice Logging and $10,000 from Richard Reynolds Trucking, with promises from others.
A letter to potential donors will be circulated in the near future, he said. People interested in donating to the project can do so by visiting sweethomecommunityfoundation.org/ and clicking on the “Donate” button on the left side of the page. After filling out the form to donate via PayPal or a credit card, click the button to review the donation and add “instructions to seller” – the purpose for which the donation is intended, in this case, “turf project.”
Nichol said anyone desiring more information should contact him at (541) 401-5772.
Jeff Parker, a local contractor and soccer coach, reported that he has designed an “old-growth stump” built of concrete that will be “split down the middle and opened like a book,” with two flat faces with a space between them, to serve as a gate into the stadium. One face will serve as a display for plaques recognizing donors to the project and the other as a ticket booth. He said the faces will be texture-stamped and acid-stained to look like wood.
The stump structure, which would sit on a block base, would be a “minimum of 8 feet tall,” he said.
The purpose behind the design, he said, is “telling the story of Sweet Home” and to recognize the community’s logging heritage. The faces would be lighted “so when people are coming in and waiting to pay for their football tickets, they’ve got lights. They can read the plaques, they can see all the names.”
Football Coach Dustin Nichol said the recognition plaques will be in five sizes – a large plaque that will list names of people who donate between $100 and $499, a 6-by-4-inch plaque for donors of $500 to $999; an 8-by-10-inch plaque for donors of $1,000 to $4,999; a 12-by-6 plaque for donors of $5,000 to $9,999; and 18-by-8-inch plaques for those donating more than $10,000.
He said the goal is to create plaques of bronze or some other long-lasting material.
Nichol said he is working with Oregon Jamboree officials to schedule the construction of the field in a manner that will impact the festival as little as possible.
Campers will not be able to be in the stadium this year and he is trying to avoid piling dirt or gravel on the athletic field between the track and Sweet Home Junior High. However, he said, timing is critical if the field is going to be completed in time for fall sports.
He said the field area will be excavated to a depth of about 43 inches and will be replaced by matting, tile and rocks, which will be laid under the field to ensure adequate drainage. The field will be essentially flat for soccer, so drainage will be critical.
He said he is working on a trade of the topsoil to be removed from the field for rock from Wodtli Quarry.
One challenge, he said, is how to remove approximately 6,500 cubic yards of topsoil and get it trucked out, since late July, when the job will need to be done, is a peak time for dump trucks.
Nichol said he figures he will need 22 trucks to get the job done in a week. He said he has several committed during the week and promises from another 15 to 20 “to come down and help out” on the weekend.