The economy has hit again. An anonymous donor whose $225,000 would have helped pay for turf fields at Albemarle High School has “postponed” his donation.
Steele Howen, a county school administrator who manages the athletic department, says that while the gentleman is still committed to the project, he will review the said donation sometime in the next quarter.
Each of the three county high schools has to raise about $600,000 to install turf on their football fields. Another private donor is still committed to give $325,000 for each of the county schools and Charlottesville High School. The county also allocated $225,000 to help pay for its three fields.
According to Howen, Monticello is “closer than anybody” to reaching the needed money, but, she says, donations are coming in to all schools on “a continuous basis.”
As soon as each school has all the money, it will “donate” it to the School Board, which, in turn, will decide the timeline for installing the turf.
The cost of installing synthetic turf is $600,000 per field, reduced from an earlier estimate of $800,000.