Published: May 22, 2008 11:54 am      

Mineral BOE gives Keyser High OK for athletic field

KEYSER - If everything goes well and the materials are delivered on time, the field at Keyser High School should be ready for football and soccer sometime during the season this fall.

The Mineral County Board of Education Tuesday gave approval for the high school to enter into a 10-year lease-purchase agreement for $1.7 million for the purchase and installation of synthetic turf, bleachers and lights for the field, as well as for the completion of the track around the field.

Principal Charles Wimer told the board that the Keyser High Campaign committee, which is about halfway through its $1.5 million fundraising effort, would be responsible for the lease payments to Comvest Ltd. Inc. of Clarksburg, which handles tax-exempt financing for municipalities, boards of education and other nonprofit entities.

Wimer also told the board that the Keyser High School Foundation believes with the successful construction of the bleachers and lights, and the placement of the turf, "it is very reasonable that we could be on the field at some time during the season."

The only problem they can foresee, he said, is "if something doesn't get delivered on time."

They have some flex time, however.

"Our first game is a bye, and our second game is away, so we don't even need the field until our third game into the season," he said.

While the field house is not yet completed, Wimer said they could conceivably continue to use the locker rooms inside the high school, as long as the press box portion of the field house is completed and usable.

Although there is a difference of $200,000 in the lease-purchase contract and the amount proposed to be raised by the campaign committee, Wimer noted there are a lot of areas in which he feels costs can be cut.

The lighting, for example, can be installed by local workers, as can the bleachers, once they are assembled.

The quality of the work will not be compromised.

"The companies we're dealing with want fields that they can show off to other schools," he said.

The school also wants a field that meets the West Virginia Secondary Schools Activities Commission standards for hosting athletic events and band competitions.

That way, Wimer said, the school can bring in additional revenue for the programs.

"The day this field opens, you start making revenue," he said. "A certain amount of that revenue has to be dedicated to the upkeep of the facility."

Wimer said the campaign committee has $800,000 pledged over the next five years, with $130,000 already in the account.

"We also have one donor who guaranteed $100,000 in September," he said.

"So we've already got the first year's payment.

"The lease is for 10 years. We're thinking we'll be very close to paying it off in five years."

Board member Bob Shook asked Wimer if the committee had considered using natural turf for the first few years, as opposed to going to the expense of laying artificial turf right now.

Wimer said natural turf cuts down on the amount of games they can schedule on the field.

"If we have natural turf, we can only put 16 events on the field a year, and if we use it for soccer and football, just for the varsity teams, we're already over 16," he said.

Board member Kevin Watson praised Wimer and the members of the committee for their work on bringing the long-awaited athletic complex to fruition.

"The student athletes of Keyser High School and the future student athletes deserve this," he said.

"I'm glad to see something finally in the works."

"I feel very confident that this committee will be able to raise the money and that we'll have something we can be proud of," board member Terry LaRue said.

Contact Liz Beavers at lbeavers@times-news.com.