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| Excavation work began Wednesday morning on AllCare Field at Badger Stadium. The project is expected to be completed in time for the beginning of the 2014-15 school year. |
The Arkadelphia Public School District Board of Education approved a contract for construction of a synthetic grass field at Badger Stadium, and also approved the naming of the field as “AllCare Field at Badger Stadium” at its Tuesday night meeting.
The
board approved the contract for Geo-Surfaces, a subsidiary of Global Synthetics
Environmental, LLC, of Baton Rouge, La., to begin construction on the project
immediately. GeoSurfaces has constructed synthetic grass surfaces at area
schools such as Henderson State University, the University of Central Arkansas,
Arkansas State University and Hope High School.
“Installing
a turf surface in our stadium is a major improvement which creates many more
opportunities for our students to utilize this facility,” Dr. Donnie Whitten,
APS Superintendent, said. “Our athletics department has shown excellent vision
and dedication to this project, and once it is completed, the new field will be
enjoyed by not only our sports teams, but band, Junior ROTC, and many others.
We are very appreciative of AllCare Pharmacy and Senator Malone for his support
of this project.”
The
approval of the project came after local businesses and individuals committed
support to the project, with the naming rights level sponsor being secured by AllCare
Pharmacy of Arkadelphia. The field will now be referred to as “AllCare Field at
Badger Stadium” as a part of the agreement between the two parties.
Former
Arkansas Senator, and long-time Arkadelphia resident, Percy Malone echoed his
support of the project, which will benefit many programs in the district, as
well as across the community.
“AllCare Pharmacy, our home owned pharmacy, is
blessed to contribute to this worthwhile project, to support our school, and
our children so we can have state of the art facilities,” Malone said. “I ask
for your support of AllCare Pharmacy so we can continue to support our
community, and we can continue to say, Arkadelphia – A great place to call
home. I want to thank all of the dedicated AllCare employees for their efforts
to help make this possible.”
Construction,
which began Wednesday morning, is expected to be completed in time for the
beginning of the 2014-15 school year. The first school event at AllCare Field
at Badger Stadium will be the annual “Meet the Badgers” event set for Friday,
Aug. 22.
The
fundraising campaign is still underway, with numerous local businesses having
committed their support including: Arkadelphia Health Club; Taylor, Rodgers,
Turner and Manning; Hardman Lumber Company; Mary and Martha’s; Taylor King and
Associates; and Southwest Sporting Goods. A comprehensive list of sponsors will
be published once fundraising for the project is complete. The deadline for sponsors
seeking on-field advertising is June 11.
“We
are extremely thankful for the generosity and support shown by the local
businesses who have partnered with the district to make this project possible,
and we look forward to the opportunities that this will present to many groups
across our district and community,” APS Athletic Director Chris Babb said.
“When pitching this idea to prospective sponsors, we became more and more
convinced that this project will be beneficial to so many groups that will be
able to utilize AllCare Field.”
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| Dirt work is progressing quickly, as shown in this image which was made on Thursday morning. |
Arkadelphia
head football coach J.R. Eldridge is excited about the scope of the project,
but also sees the benefits to the Badger football program as well.
“I’m
thrilled that this project is happening, and I can’t thank the local community enough
for stepping up to make this a reality,” Eldridge said. “Not only our football program
will benefit, but many other sports and activities will benefit because our
facility will be better than ever.”
APS News
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