Wednesday, December 18, 2013
BENTONVILLE — The School District is moving forward with plans to raise money to replace the synthetic turfs at the high school’s football stadium and soccer field.
Athletic Surfaces Plus, in Memphis, Tenn., will assist the district with a campaign aimed at raising about $1.1 million to replace both fields as well as the Tiger Stadium scoreboard. The district’s intent is to pay for the projects entirely with donations.
Scott Passmore, district athletic director, said the goal is to raise the necessary money by May and complete the projects by August.
The School Board on Monday approved entering into an agreement with Athletic Surfaces Plus by a 6-1 vote. Grant Lightle was the only board member who voted against it because he preferred having the board’s attorney review the agreement first.
Project Cost
The Bentonville School District is looking to raise money to:
Replace the turf at the soccer field: $380,000.
Replace the turf at Tiger Stadium: $420,000.
Install a new 11-foot-by-30-foot electronic scoreboard at Tiger Stadium. The 11-foot-by-16-foot scoreboard would be moved to the back of the new one and be used to display a calendar of events and donor recognition. Cost: $325,000.
Total: $1,125,000
Source: Bentonville School District
“I’m not opposed to the idea, but I think we ought not to be authorizing contracts we haven’t read,” Lightle said Tuesday.
Michael Poore, district superintendent, said Monday he was confident the agreement would not put the district “at any kind of risk.”
The soccer field was installed in 2005. The Tiger Stadium field was installed in 2006 following a storm that damaged it. Both turfs need to be replaced, Passmore said.
“The soccer field is absolutely pitiful,” Passmore said. “You see more rubber than you see green fibers.”
The district had the fields evaluated by Athletic Surfaces Plus in February 2012 to determine how to extend their lives. Rubber was added to the football stadium, indoor and softball fields at a cost of $55,000.
Athletic Surfaces Plus describes itself on its website as a consulting and project development and management firm that specializes in sports-related surfaces and projects. Its client list includes the Rogers, Fayetteville and Siloam Springs school districts.
Passmore said he has contacted other consulting firms, but he couldn’t find another one that offers both consulting and fundraising services.
The district must pay $10,000 to Athletic Surfaces Plus for the initial work of the campaign, Passmore said. That money eventually will be replaced by donations. The company will keep 5 percent of the dollars it raises, but that fee will not apply to any money the district acquires through its own partnerships and relationships, Passmore said.
Donors will have the option of paying in one-lump sum or in installments. To get the projects done next year, the district will explore financing options with local banks that would be backed by those campaign pledges.
Donations will flow to the district through the Athletic Booster Club, making them tax-deductible.