A practice field at Ridgefield High School has brand new artficial turf but still needs money for lighting.
The turf is down, but the lights need to go up.
With the latter still in flux for the multi-purpose artificial turf practice field at Ridgefield High School, Tiger Hollow, Inc., is seeking $180,000 in private donations to complete the project as high school teams prepare to begin practices on the field this Saturday, Aug. 24.
“The physical turf has been installed and the field looks beautiful — we’re very pleased with how it came out and we’re looking forward to having practices on it on the 24th,” said John Pavain, chairman of the Tiger Hollow Committee. “We have surrounding issues that we’d like to take care of as soon as possible, but we need a bit more funding to light the field and put in some other things, such as a scoreboard and netting.”
The problem with lighting the field has nothing to do with wiring, said Pavain. Rather, the committee needs money to buy the poles and the lights and then install them.
“The wiring is there; the foundation for the light poles is all done,” said Pavain. “We just need to put the poles in so when the sun goes down practices can still go on there.
“Without lights, the field can only be used until sunset and its use will begin to be harshly dictated by the seasonal change.”
Pavain said that the committee’s goal is to have the money raised by mid-September, when the sunlight will be limited and the practice schedule would have to become “more practical.”
He added that the process of putting in the poles would not disrupt the field or interfere with the high school sports teams’ practice schedules.
Before the all-weather artificial turf surface was installed this summer, the grass field was used for football practice in the fall and was then too damaged to be used by any team in the spring.
Pavain acknowledged that some people in town doubt the project needs more funding after $800,000 has already been raised, but he said all money raised so far has been spent.
“People believe we have enough to get the lights up, but we really don’t,” said Pavain. “We thank the community for their generosity so far, but we have to continue to raise money to finish this field.”
In addition to the lighting, Tiger Hollow, Inc., is facing issues with drainage surrounding the field. One storm drain has already been successfully installed, but Pavain said the committee would like to place two more on the sides of the field.
Drainage problems were evident during the work on the project this summer, he said.
“We just want to protect the field from the downhill water flow that comes from the high school,” he said. “We have one drain in that’s closest to Tiger Hollow Road, but we’d like two more to ensure that the field won’t be damaged.
“We’ve had fairly significant rainfall recently and the fall storms are still on their way — this is precautionary, but necessary.”
While lighting comprises a majority of the $180,000 fund-raising figure, Pavain estimates that the committee will need $10,000 each for the scoreboard, the netting and the drainage system.
The committee has been unsuccessful trying to pry money from the town budget or the school budget.
At the Board of Selectmen meeting on July 31, the committee’s request for $15,000 to help cover unexpected costs was turned down.
Now, the committee must seek private donations for the project, which was initially estimated to cost $1.2 million.
Pavain added that youth sports leagues — football, soccer, lacrosse and field hockey — have all been active contributors.
Pavain is confident that the money will be raised because the field will serve many purposes once complete, ranging from youth and high school sports to community activities such as Relay for Life.
“This field will be a great asset to this town,” he said. “We expect it to be booked at full capacity constantly.”