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Recently a grassroots committee was formed called the Blackbird Walk Committee. The purpose of this committee was to look into the costs of renovating the football field at Alumni Field to include an artificial turf surface, lights for evening use, a new scoreboard, and a new bleacher system that would conform to ADA requirements for handicapped use. The current field is natural grass and as a result of years of use, it is in poor condition. Learn more.
 Briefly, the benefits of artificial turf over natural grass fields are that the artificial surface gives a consistent, high quality playing surface, a longer playing season that is not impacted by inclement weather (i.e. rain-outs) and improved technology and construction providing an acceptable alternative to natural turf surfaces. Artificial turf mimics the properties of real grass and is endorsed by many sports governing bodies such as the Federation International Football Association. Donate now.
An artificial surface will greatly diminish the hazards to the environment as well. No longer will fertilizers and gas mowers be needed to maintain the surface. This would be a considerable savings to the local school district.
We recognize the advantages of a new field will expand the use to not only Keene High School football, but many of the other field sports as well. Activities such as football, soccer, field hockey and lacrosse are very hard on a natural turf surface. This new construction would eliminate over use and be available to the students for the majority of the school year.
As for the bleacher system, it currently does not conform to the federal requirements for accessibility of handicapped persons (ADA). The project proposal will do this. We also plan to build a second bleacher system on the commonly referred to "visitor's" side. This system will be the most up to date bleachers available.
The projected cost of this project is 1 million dollars. All of these funds must be raised by this committee. We are soliciting community businesses for the majority of these funds by selling advertising space on the bleachers. These ads will be for all to see on a year round basis. We are also selling "pavers", which are blocks that can be personalized with a brief message. These pavers will be used to create two entrances to the field, the Blackbird Walk. It will be a source of pride and motivation for the teams as they enter the arena of play and the community as they come to support our teams.
We hope that you will be part of this effort and purchase an ad for your business. Give now.
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