The Palisades Charter High School Board of Directors voted unanimously Tuesday night to approve fundraising for a project that could transform the Stadium by the Sea along Temescal Canyon. The proposed project will consist of (1) replacing the existing natural grass playing field with a soft and durable Field Turf synthetic grass and (2) replacing the current dirt running track with a rubberized all-weather surface. Organizers estimate the project will cost $1.3 million and construction could ideally begin after graduation next June and be completed in time for the start of the football season in September. “Palisades is a great high school with a bright future and it deserves to have a quality field and track,” said project co-leader Jim Bailey, a local commercial real estate agent whose daughter, Laura, was the Pali soccer team’s goalie for three years before she graduated in 2004. Chosen by more and more high schools, colleges and professional stadiums, Field Turf is a new generation of Astroturf that is far softer than previous materials and produces fewer injuries than natural grass fields. “Not only are these types of fields better for the players but they actually make financial sense,” added Bob Jeffers, the other project co-leader, who won a Community Sparkplug Award in 2004 for his leadership of a PRIDE landscaping project. “Schools all over the country are putting these fields in” (including Calvary Christian School in the Highlands). Because the current stadium field is used by various school sports (football in the fall, soccer in the winter, track and field and softball in the spring), as well as outside entities, the grass must be replaced every year. “Instead of the field becoming bare and muddy and being closed for reseeding all summer, the synthetic field will look and feel perfect no matter how much abuse it takes,” Bailey said. “Pali’s sister school, Granada Hills Charter High, just completed this exact project and we’re planning on bringing over their entire construction team to do our field.” Bailey and Jeffers made an hour-long presentation at the Board’s previous meeting November 29 in the school library. Larry Foster of Bellinger Foster Steinmetz, an outdoor landscaping firm, attended that meeting and gave a short presentation on Field Turf technology. If all goes well with the project’s fundraising, PaliHi will rent out the new field by the hour to local sports organizations such as AYSO, Pop Warner football, soccer and lacrosse club teams and even summer camps, to help recover the cost of the project over time. The field will be marked with permanent lines for a variety of sports. In addition, an all-weather track would allow to school to host invitational track meets, bringing in additional revenue. Also present two weeks ago to endorse the proposed project was Chris Davis, director of athletics at Granada Hills, who showed a five-minute DVD and called synthetic grass “a practical, logical improvement, not a luxury item.” He said his school’s field has become a source of pride for the Highlanders and that students are more enthusiastic about P.E. One concern the Board had was that the new field surface might be damaged by the annual Fourth of July fireworks, but Jeffers said he researched the issue and learned that the field could be safely tarped for such occasions. Board members then inquired about the costs for water and maintenance at Stadium by the Sea, which currently run between $35,000 and $50,000 a year. A synthetic field, Jeffers pointed out, would eliminate about 85 percent of those expenses. PaliHi principal Dr. Gloria Martinez, the administration, and the athletic department “are all solidly behind the effort,” Jeffers told the Palisadian-Post. “Generous individuals have already stepped forward to help us launch this project and we’ll be reaching out to the community over the next few months to raise the necessary funds.” Bailey said the school is even open to the possibility of naming rights to the new stadium. Those interested in donating to the project should contact either Bailey (phone: 468-7700, ext. 391 or e-mail: bailey@westmac.com), or Bob Jeffers (phone: 230-8914 or e-mail: forcopy@aol.com.).
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