A groundbreaking ceremony Friday signaled major refurbishing of the football and track and field complex at Crater High.

Students, faculty and community members listened as plans to install multi-sport FieldTurf at Dutch Meyer Stadium were announced, along with other facility upgrades.

Tommy Malot and Brett Moore, co-chairs of the Tale of the Comet Capital Campaign Committee, and committee members Bill Maentz and John Beck spoke.

The new artificial turf is scheduled to be completed installed by Aug. 1, just before the beginning of football and other fall sports practices.

"It’s an improvement for the community," said Beck, the athletic director and football coach at Crater. "We want it to be something that the entire community can come out and enjoy."

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Donations and in-kind contributions from individuals, businesses and community groups will help foot the bill for the estimated $750,000 venture.

The project is similar to the resurfacing of Spiegelberg Stadium two years ago.

Much like the work to Spiegelberg, the new Crater surface will be used for soccer, football and other events for the public.

"They’ve done such a great job with Spiegelberg," Beck said. "We want to make this a nice facility for everyone to use. It will be a great addition."

FieldTurf is a grasslike surface made of fibers and a soft composite of sand. The spongy surface, now used by a handful of high schools and colleges throughout the state, would be available for year-round use and would cut down on sports-related injuries. The surface would also save School District 6 between $20,000 and $60,000 each year in maintenance and water fees.

"It saves us money, and it can be used for so many different things," said Beck. "We’re such a small community. It’ll be a neat thing for everyone to enjoy."

The track, originally constructed in the 1970s and resurfaced 15 years ago, will get a new red surface in addition to other cosmetic improvements.

The Tale of the Comet Committee, made up of Crater graduates and Central Point community members, began discussing plans to improve Dutch Meyer Stadium nearly one year ago.

The committee raised around $140,000 before even going public with the project.

"We sat down and talked about the ways we could make this facility better," said Beck. "We wanted something better that could suit the entire community.

"Lo and behold, here we are a year later ready to go."

The old grass football field will be skinned by volunteers today and installed at Hanby Middle School.

Funding for another project to replace the bank of lights is also in the works.

The lights at Dutch Meyer Stadium, which Beck hopes to donate to Gold Hill Little League, have been in place since 1952.

"We want people to be able to see what’s going on out there," joked the football coach. "Hopefully they’ll see us getting some wins this fall."

Reach reporter Kevin Goff at 776-4483 or e-mail kgoff@mailtribune.com.