Despite a citizens group's pledge to raise $1 million towards a new Collinsville High School artificial turf field, no private donations have been contributed towards the project, according to district Superintendent Bob Green.
Before the stadium project was proposed in May, members of a group of Collinsville alumni, Facilities and Athletics Improvement Reform, said they wanted to raise money to install the artificial field.
When contacted in June, member Don Dueker said the group had not secured any donations.
Dueker, FAIR members Keith Throm and Wayne White (also a school board member) did not return multiple telephone messages for this story.
The lack of private contributions is in stark contrast to nearby districts that have recently installed artificial turf fields. The Edwardsville School District received $525,000 through fundraising efforts towards its turf field, Waterloo schools received $250,000 in donations for its athletic complex and private donations will reimburse the O'Fallon School District for $350,000 of the athletic complex.
While Collinsville is using money from its normal operating budget, O'Fallon, Edwardsville and Waterloo used money from funds dedicated for construction. Both the O'Fallon and Edwardsville school districts used interest earned from construction bonds and the Waterloo district built its stadium as part of a $35 million bond referendum — which also paid for a new high school. The Collinsville School District is planning to use funding from its Operations and Maintenance Fund, which is used to pay for regular repairs and upkeep of school buildings.
Board President Gary Peccola and Superintendent Green both said they would prefer to see a mixture of public and private funding for the project. Green said he met with FAIR members last week to "discuss some ideas." But he said he is also looking at other ways to generate revenue for the project.
"I can tell you that I have had conversations ... about doing some fundraising to pay for some of the extras at the football field," Green said, referring to a Kahoks field logo, a purple end zone and scoreboard and sound system. "My practice and my experience is to try to solicit help from private individuals and businesses. A lot of it depends on your economy and local community and just what people can afford."
Former school board President Bill Jokerst said the group approached the school board more than a year ago with a proposal to install an artificial turf field.
"Several people came to us and said they wanted to have this Astro Turf," Jokerst said. "We had been cutting several things in the curriculum and I was not in favor of taking the money that we saved to spend it on a football field. They spoke before us and said they were going to go out and raise some money."
Dueker said in June that potential donors were unwilling to provide funding because the district had a budget surplus and had not shown a willingness to maintain its facilities.
"We would be hard pressed to go back at this point and say we'd like to get a financial contribution, but there is a $14 million surplus and the district is not willing to invest in improvements," Dueker said. "Nobody in their right mind is going to invest."
Contact reporter Ramona C. Sanders at 618-344-0264, ext. 136
