Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Downey's turf to be ready for football season

By WILL DeBOARD
wdeboard@modbee.com

last updated: August 10, 2007 04:07:32 AM

There are two different types of work going on at Downey High School.

Just east of the home bleachers at Chuck Hughes Stadium, future Knights football players circle the practice field while jogging.

And west of the home bleachers — on the field itself — backhoes and trenchers labor.

The construction on the field is for artificial turf, something the players hope to break in on Sept. 7, when the Knights play host to the Tokay Tigers of Lodi.

It's a field that Modesto City Schools officials say will be done just in time for the season opener.

"The completion date hasn't changed," said Modesto City Schools director of construction John Liukkonen. "Our crew is laying out the turf on (Monday). We're hoping it'll be done by Aug. 26.

"We're confident we'll have a complete field for that first game."

The artificial turf is badly needed.

Downey and Johansen are Modesto's only public high schools with football stadiums. With Enochs fielding a varsity team this year, that means six city schools will share those two stadiums. Modesto City Schools chief business official Debbe Bailey said the district wasn't looking into installing artificial turf at Johansen at this time.

Downey's football players have followed the construction all summer.

"The old field, it was basically like playing in a sandbox," said senior Tyler Johnson. "And when it rained, it was like a pigpen."

The new field has the players even more excited than usual about the beginning of the season.

"We're ready to go," said senior George Ferris.

The field is partially the result of the Modesto City Schools and Modesto Bee fund-raising effort called "Fields of Green."

Modesto City Schools gave $500,000 to open the fund. Fields of Green raised an additional $350,000 through public donations and student fund-raisers over the next 18 months.

The remainder of the approximately $1.8 million price tag was built into a much-larger budget item, Downey's modernization project. The project, which is eligible for state funding, could also include the building of a new pool.

The crew was expected to finish preparation work for the turf on Thursday. It looked close to completion earlier this week. The rock base for the field was laid and leveled, while workers on trenchers labored in the south end zone. According to Liukkonen, a new scoreboard, donated by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 684, will be up "hopefully by the end of November."

As early as Monday, the crew from Sportexe, the artificial turf company chosen for this installment, will be hard at work. Sportexe is a rising artificial turf business based in Ontario, Canada and Texas. It's in the stadiums used by the NFL's Baltimore Ravens and New Orleans Saints, as well as Cal's Memorial Stadium.

Until then, Downey's players will continue to run. Their first official conditioning day is Monday, and they'll be allowed to drill in pads next Thursday.

"Even with all the construction, it hasn't stopped us from running the bleachers," Ferris said. "We'll be ready."

Bee staff writer Will DeBoardcan be reached at wdeboard@modbee.com or 578-2300.

• Comments
• Add Comment
• Disclaimer