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PHILLIPS FIELD Ashland School District hopes to break ground on Phillips Field project in July District about $100k short of $850k fundraising target Comment By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings DailyTidings.com By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings Posted Jun. 19, 2015 at 10:21 AM By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings Posted Jun. 19, 2015 at 10:21 AM » Social News One hundred thousand dollars may seem like a substantial gap, but Ashland High athletic director Karl Kemper has a few reasons to be optimistic. Actually, he has about 750,000 reasons. Bolstered by AHS alum Jeremy Guthrie’s $650,000 donation and a few other significant pledges since the Kansas City Royals pitcher’s March visit, the Ashland School District’s football field fund drive has raised $750,000 toward its $850,000 goal, which Kemper hopes to reach by the end of the month. If everything goes according to plan, Kemper says, the district will secure the funds necessary to replace the grass at Walter A. Phillips Field with a synthetic surface by June 30 and break ground on the construction project sometime in July. If that happens, the Ashland High football team will play at least two of its four scheduled 2015 regular season home games and the Pacific Rim Bowl, scheduled for July 31, at Raider Stadium. In addition to Guthrie’s donation, Kemper said, another private donor pledged $50,000 and the Ashland High School Booster Club last week decided to chip in $15,000. Those, along with some smaller donations, boosted the total funds raised to within $100,000 of the goal. “We’re at the point now where every donation is going to make a difference,” Kemper said. To help cover the cost the district is selling advertising space along a fence that will surround the field. For $10,000, businesses can lock up a section of ad space for 10 years, which can be paid in full up front or in $1,000-per-year increments. Much of the remaining fundraising will be covered through donations, however. And the hope is that those will begin to come in fast now that a project which has been years in the making appears to finally be approaching the finish line. “That’s been my focus,” Kemper said, “contacting people who have already made (verbal) commitments. As of right now we’re halfway through (the final $200,000), but people have to follow through. We’re also talking to local excavating companies, rock companies, to see what kind of in-kind donations they might be able to make which could bring down the cost.” In another cost-cutting move, the district is working with Community Sports Development Council, a consortium of companies that produce the products that go into the fields and work with school districts to install fields at a reduced rate. The CSDC has also installed fields at Eagle Point, Hidden Valley and Klamath Union. Securing donations and spreading the word has been a team effort, Kemper added, as head football coach Charlie Hall and former football coach and athletic director Jim Nagel have also played key roles in the district’s big push (those interested in making donations can reach Kemper at 541-482-2377). “Our goal is to break ground in July, but all of this is pending school board approval,” he said. “(Superintendent) Jay Hummel is keeping them informed of our progress and they have been supportive but prudent, asking all the right questions and making sure we have a solid plan in place. They’re doing their jobs very well to make sure that we’re doing our jobs and nothing moves forward without their approval.” Artist renderings of the new field, designed by Cameron McCarthy Landscape Architecture & Planning and on display in Mountain Avenue Gym during Guthrie’s kickoff speech March 24, show a surface that alternates from light green to dark green in five-yard intervals. At the 50-yard line, stretching roughly 17 yards across, is a Grizzly paw with a white letter “K” in the middle. The “K” stands for Kitchell — honoring Ashland High’s former defensive coordinator Dave Kitchell, who died in 2007 following a long battle with cancer. Each end zone is painted a solid red with white lettering spelling out “Ashland” in the east end zone and “Grizzlies” in the west. According to the plans, the turf itself will be 2½-inch synthetic fibers resting on a sand and rubber infill over a drainage rock base. The field will also include a shock pad, or concussion pad, an extra foam-like layer designed to absorb impacts and reduce the risk of head injuries. “The concussion layer is an extra expense, but it was non-negotiable for us,” Kemper said. “Our (school) board would not approve it without that. We have an opportunity to make it as safe as possible for kids and we would be resistant to not adding that piece given what we know (about concussions).” The field is lined for both soccer and football, with its soccer dimensions listed on the rendering at 60 yards wide by 120 yards long. Those dimensions fit within the parameters allowed by the Oregon School Activities Association, which has adopted the National Federation of State High School Associations standards. Unlike football fields, which are uniform and devoid of wiggle room, NFHS-approved soccer fields have a size range. The width can be 55 to 80 yards and the length 100 to 120 yards. Early in the planning process the Ashland soccer community lobbied for a wider field, but since that would have forced the district to remove the south end visitors bleachers it would have been a costly expansion. Ultimately, the school board and Hummel decided against that. “We’re going to put the field on the footprint as it exists today,” Hummel said. “It won’t be as wide as it could be but it will be as wide as it can be. It would have been a huge expense — that was the main problem. Plus it would have significantly changed that site.” Kemper researched the dimensions of 12 soccer fields in southern Oregon between Klamath Falls and Grants Pass. The widths of those fields range to as narrow as 58 yards at Crater High School to as wide as 72 yards at Phoenix High, with an average width of 65.4 yards overall and, among the seven artificial turf fields, 61.8 yards. If the Ashland High boys and girls soccer teams do not choose to use the new field for games they’ll continue to play at their current game sites. The AHS boys have been hosting games at the Ashland Middle School upper field, and the AHS girls have used the south field at North Mountain Park. Either way, Hummel said, the field will probably get plenty of soccer use. Also, he added, the AMS field was recently re-seeded and is expected to be in top shape for the 2015 season, should the varsity team choose to use it. “This will be a field that they can practice on a lot,” he said. “And they can play (games) on it, too, and we invite them to. …They have a choice.” Joe Zavala can be reached at 541-821-0829 or [email protected]. By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings DailyTidings.com By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings Posted Jun. 19, 2015 at 10:21 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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