District gears up for field funds

BURBANK — In anticipation of a $1-million fundraising effort, Burbank Unified School District board members on Thursday agreed that the name of the revamped field at Burroughs High School should remain the same while signing off on donation guidelines for Memorial Field and Burbank High School field renovations.

The $14.2-million joint-use project with the city includes tearing down and rebuilding Memorial Field at John Burroughs High School.

The new field design includes a memorial statue, energy-efficient lights, increased and improved access for the disabled, a new courtyard with grass and trees and all wrought-iron fencing.

Even though the look, feel and capacity of the field will completely change, board members agreed the field’s name should stay the same with a rededication to the 21 students and two teachers who died in World War II for which the field is named.

Fundraising campaign committee members are hoping to collect donations from community members and local, small business owners, said Michael Hastings, chairman of the fundraising campaign.

“Basically what we’ve come up with is that this should be supported by the community as a whole,” Hastings said.

“For our fields there are so many alumni and so many parents that have used it . . . so many wonderful memories of Burbank High and Burroughs that we believe that the community as a whole should dig in their pockets and basically say thank you.”

The theme for the effort will be “Memorial Stadium: Celebrate Gratitude,” and donations will be officially solicited and accepted starting in mid to late November, he said.

All of the donations, which will be accepted and maintained through the Burbank Priority in Education Foundation, will be used for enhancing the fields with extra accouterment, he said.

Some areas at the fields will be dedicated to their donors, but which areas are up for grabs to be inscribed are still unknown.

But board members did approve the recommendation that donors of $25,000 or more will be recognized by the board in an as-yet- undetermined way and that donors of at least $500 will be honored with an inscription on a donor wall at Memorial Field.

“We appreciate every single donation or contribution, but there has to be a certain level at which that’s recognized permanently or at least on a semi-permanent basis,” Supt. Gregory Bowman said.

The Burbank High field is scheduled to be finished by September 2008, in time for the school’s centennial celebration.

Contractors expect to finish Memorial Field by the end of 2009.