Coalition recognizes city's top-ranked field turf project

Wednesday, October 10, 2007
by Reporter news sources

The Auburn Parks, Arts & Recreation was presented with an outstanding achievement award for the department’s new synthetic turf field project at Game Farm Park.
The award was presented Sept. 26 at the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Coalition, a non-profit group dedicated to persuading the Legislature to fund parks, wildlife and working farms. The diverse, non-partisan organization is the founder and chief advocate for the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program, a competitive state grant program.

Parks Arts & Rec recently unveiled the new synthetic turf fields at the 140-acre Game Farm Park, located at 3030 R Street SE. Out of 69 overall projects, the new fields were ranked as the No.1 priority by the WWRP committee that reviewed grant proposals from all over Washington state.

“The project received tremendous community support from the beginning,” said Daryl Faber, Auburn Parks, Arts & Recreation Department director. “The grant application to the WWRP included over 750 letters from local soccer groups and supporters, letters of support from the Auburn School District and Green River Community College and a commitment for $675,000 of City funding.”

The new fields were a collaborative project funded by the City of Auburn, a $300,000 Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program (WWRP) grant administered by the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Funding Board, the Washington State legislature, and a $75,000 Youth Facilities Grant from King County. The Auburn Youth Soccer Association provided funding for the goals and bleachers. Total construction cost was just under $1.4 million and revenue will be generated from field rentals.

“With 30 percent of Auburn’s population aged 19 years or younger, the need for year-round fields was critical,” Faber said.

The new synthetic turf fields will be available for year-round play with the potential for 2,000 games a year, including youth and adult soccer and flag-football leagues.