Photo Credit: Ian Round
Ian Round, Raiderzone Editor
September 26, 2011
Filed under Raiderzone, Top Stories
The high school will not have a turf field until the district finds a donor, according to Athletics Director Don Readance.
And there is no timetable.
Readance wants the high school’s football field and track to be replaced. Ideally, the Onaway/Woodbury field would be replaced with turf as well. Readance said that field lights are out of the question as well, and that, for now, so is the second turf field.
The high school track is covered in bubbles and patches and comprises multiple surfaces with different textures. Readance said that before it was installed, the earth underneath was poorly drained, causing the track to bubble up. The football, soccer/lacrosse, and field hockey fields have are riddled with dirt patches. A divot in the soccer/lacrosse field was filled with sand.
Readance said a turf field and new track would cost at most $1.5 million. The citizen committee in charge of buying new facilities compiled a list of potential alumni donors, including Browns owner Randy Lerner and Roger Penske, founder and chairman of Penske Racing Corporation. Lee Weingart, a member of the committee, would not say whom they had contacted, if anyone. “I’m not really comfortable about [discussing] any of our efforts to raise money,” Weingart said.
The committee has considered buying a cheaper, used turf field from professional teams.
Weingart said that a small amount of money has been raised, but not nearly enough to purchase a track or field. “It’s not a material amount of money,” he said.
Although there is no timetable, Weingart said, “We’d like to see this sometime next year, with Shaker going to the Northeast Ohio Conference.”
Readance had blueprints for the new facilities last spring, but would not show them to The Shakerite this month because the plans for the facility have changed drastically. Last spring’s plans featured a brick entrance at the north end zone leading to a new track and turf field. There was also a visitors’ locker room near the baseball scoreboard with running water and bathrooms that could be used by both baseball and football teams.
Caption: THE TRACK IS so poorly maintained that wildlife has begun to grow on its sides. Perhaps this is due to the improper draining methods used on the land before the track was put down. Athletics Director Don Readance said that Shaker will not purchase new facilities until a sizeable donation is made. Other schools with turf fields include Mentor, Hudson, Twinsburg, Solon, Brush, Cleveland Heights, Chagrin Falls, Collinwood, Glenville, Cleveland Central Catholic, University School, Hawken and Gilmour, the first five of which are in the Northeast Ohio Conference.
A version of this article appeared in print on 26 September 2011, on page 13 of The Shakerite.
Comments
Please share your thoughts. You must include your full name and a valid email adress in order for your comment to be published.
Leave a Reply