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Iron Mountain City Park Project
The City Park Athletic Field Project This project is to add a second field at City Park. By using the original field surface we can create two north-south fields, rather than the one east-west field. Each field would have a parking lot associated with it. Both fields would be regulation high school soccer and high school football size. This new complex then could then serve both sports. Why do we need a second field at City Park? In the past 5 years the usage of the City Park athletic field has increased substantially to a point where a need for a second field has arisen. SAY soccer usually starts in May and runs through July, holding nightly games at the field. The youth football league season starts in August and ends in October, with around 100 kids using the field to practice and play games. Also during the summer months the high school soccer club uses the field in the mornings for practice and the field hosts a high school cross country meet once a year. A major concern is keeping the field safe. Irrigating the field keeps the grass green and the soil soft, therefore reducing injuries. The youth football league is challenged because of player to player collisions during practice. When school starts we only have about 3 hours to have practice and with over 100 kids on 4 different teams we are crowded to say the least. This project is being introduced by Dean Lefebvre, the president of the Youth Football League. The funding for this project is planned to come from Grants and Donations. No City dollars will be required. Project Phases Phase 1 To get this project going we need to move the Northeast corner of the deer fence and 2 utility poles. This part of the project should be low to no cost. Phase 2 When enough funds have been raised a full out effort will be made to complete this phase in as short of time as possible. Pealing the top soil off the field and bulldozing the current mound of dirt to fill in the South side of the new fields. Once leveling has been completed the original top soil will be re-spread across the fields. New top soil will have to be brought in for the additional area. Also as part of Phase 2 would be the enhancement of the west side parking lot. Phase 2 would not start until the required funds to complete this phase had been raised. The best time for this phase to start would be for the ground leveling to start in mid October with grass seeding to take place in the spring. Phase 3 The phase 3 section will be completed as funds become available. A permanent concession and storage building, fan bleachers, lighting and scoreboards will complete phase 3. Conclusion: There are several advantages of completing this project; we can alternate the usage of the fields to better maintain them, we can host 2 games at once and more that one sport can utilize the complex at the same time. There are many grant programs that are available to help in fund this project. For example, the NFL has a grant program for areas that are in need of field expansion. There are local grant programs that can help and there is community support for youth sports. Please feel free to contact me with any questions. Dean Lefebvre President Central UP Youth Football League, Inc 906-396-2186
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