Boosters star in track and field

TRIBTOWN: Fundraisers buy new facilities at Cleveland High and elsewhere

By Anna Johns

The Portland Tribune, Sep 19, 2006, Updated Oct 30, 2009

JIM CLARK / PORTLAND TRIBUNE

While Rick Macquoid makes his daily run at the track at Cleveland High School in Southeast Portland, the school’s football team practices on the field. A multiyear fundraising effort still has $1 million to go to complete the track and field project.

Carmel Bender started raising funds to fix the Cleveland High School athletic track when her daughter, Olivia, was a senior on the cross-country and track teams.

“The surface sheds off and destroys school uniforms and shoes,” Bender said. “You can’t even run on the inside lane because it’s total water.”

Now, three years later, Bender’s daughter coaches high school runners and the track is still a disaster, resembling an obstacle course with water hazards, uneven surfaces and a crumbling top layer. So far, Bender and a relentless team of parents have raised $1 million, half of the money needed to upgrade the school track and replace the worn-down playing field with synthetic turf.

“Our field is especially ragged – bumpy and uneven,” Bender said. “One Friday night varsity football game puts the field out of commission for a week.”

The Cleveland track and field is just one example of a much larger problem facing Portland Public Schools. The outdoor athletic facilities at all but one of Portland’s 10 public high schools are at the end of their life, and the financial burden to fix them is on the shoulders of parents and neighborhoods.

Portland Public Schools used 1996 bond revenue to resurface the tracks of all 10 public high schools, but didn’t set aside any money for future resurfacing even though the district knew the tracks have a 10-year lifespan. The only exceptions were Lincoln and Grant High Schools. At Grant, boosters and the parks bureau kicked in extra money during the resurfacing for a higher quality running surface.

High school playing fields also are in poor condition, forcing athletic teams, such as girls and boys soccer at Cleveland, to practice at neighborhood parks. Bender sees it as a loss of revenue and a missed opportunity for community building.

“It’s crazy for the kids in Southeast soccer to have to trek out to Delta Park,” Bender said. “Every high school field should be done because that serves every neighborhood.”

Bender points to Gresham High School, which installed a new track and synthetic field in 2002. The playing field saw an astonishing 2,400 percent increase in usage from high school sports teams and community sports organizations. Earlier this month, Barlow High School, also in Gresham, opened its new synthetic field and officials expect similar results.

Portland Public Schools’ only artificial-turf field is at Lincoln High School, which also replaced its track in 2003 thanks to a massive campaign by parents and students.

Through grants, auctions, student fundraisers and donations from individuals, businesses and community organizations, Lincoln parents raised $1.3 million. The new track cost $400,000, and the new field cost $900,000. The field is rugged and requires no maintenance, so it’s constantly being rented to community football, soccer and lacrosse leagues.

“You can literally play on that field 24/7,” said George Osgood, chairman of the Cardinal Field Project.

1 | 2 Next Page >>

Facebook	Digg	Del.icio.us
Newsvine	Stumbleupon	Reddit