George Robert White Schoolboy Stadium,known to most Bostonians as simply "White Stadium",is in desperate need of resurfacing. No,the natural grass surface isn't in bad shape. In fact it's extremely well kept. But considering that it's the home field for so many Boston Public School football and soccer teams as well as Pop Warner Football games which often play as many as five games on a given Sunday,the community would be better served with the installation of a new,state of the art artificial surface.
The installation of FieldTurf would allow the field to be used pretty much twenty -four hours a day,seven days a week if needed and the maintenance costs are only a fraction of the cost of re-seeding,cutting,fertilizing and even marking the field on a regular basis.Teams can utilize the fields during bad weather without the risk of causing further damage to the surface as well as offering a surface free of mud.
Every Fall several soccer and football games scheduled to be played are often postponed or moved to another location simply because the weather conditions at White Stadium require it not to be used that day. That wouldn't be the case at all if there were an artificial surface in place.
Let's face it,the field is at it's best right up until the first kickoff of the high school football season in early September. After that it's all downhill.
Without having a contractor's bid right in front of me,I believe the cost of converting to an artificial surface has got to be in the $900,000.00 range. That includes updating the track surface that surrounds it.Even at a million bucks it's plenty cheaper than the cost of repairs to other projects that were said to be beneficial to the quality of life in Boston (see Big Dig).
The City of Boston in partnership with the private sector and generous donors could certainly make this happen.
I'm not sure if selling naming rights is part of the solution as far as gathering funds for the project but investigating that option may be a start.
The stadium, built in 1945 and named after a well known local philanthropist is considered a treasure to many including myself. It's been host to more events than I can mention or remember. I feel with a new,more durable surface,it can serve as host to even more, and with minimal delay in between events.
I hope this idea can become a reality in the not too distant future. Perhaps ground can be broken the Monday after Thanksgiving this year?
Ok,I got that off my chest,lol!
God Bless,and have a wonderful weekend.
