Groundbreaking ceremony held for new LSHS field and track
Shovels were placed into the ground at Lexington Senior High School’s Philpott Memorial Stadium on Tuesday evening. With approximately 75 attendees watching from the stands, a groundbreaking ceremony was held for the school’s new football/soccer field and track.
LSHS Athletic Director, Ronnie Beverly, served as the master of ceremonies for the event. As a member of the infamous 1985 and ‘86 championship teams, Beverly couldn’t hide his excitement when discussing the forthcoming upgrades. The grass field will be replaced with astroturf, more specifically a root zone 303 blend turf. Lexington based company, AstroTurf Corporation, will install it. The financing for this project was obtained through money from the Davidson Count Commissioners, the Lexington City Schools general fund balance and state issued lottery funds.
According to a press release provided by the school system, the success of this project would support the following:
Building a healthy community by providing a fun and safe environment for families to come together and fellowship. This project was designed to strengthen family dynamics and enhance their experience in spending quality time together locally.
Providing extracurricular options to get students more involved. Two factors that come into play when people are researching youth crime are boredom and a lack of supervision. A blooming athletics program and facility gives students a place to belong and helps reduce antisocial behavior.
Providing high quality fields that can generate future revenue for LCS and the city of Lexington through:
AAU Tournaments
Conference and State Matches
Facility Rentals
Following a welcome by LCS Board of Education Chair, Darrick Horton, an invocation by Rev. Dr. Arnetta Beverly, the presentation of colors by the LSHS JROTC and the singing of the national anthem by the LSHS chorus, members of the board and LCS Superintendent, Dr. Anitra Wells were invited up to officially dig up some dirt.
Representatives from AstroTurf briefly shared how special this project is to them as they get to work in their own backyard on the first turf field in the county. Beverly invited fellow hall of famers Deems May, Joe McIntosh and Cory Holt to the podium to share some thoughts about the renovation. Holt quickly gave a shoutout to the soccer programs who utilize the field as well. Getting the crowd hyped and excited were LSHS’ cheerleaders and marching band, the Jacket Sting Machine. The ceremony ended with the singing of the school’s alma mater.
The project is expected to be completed in July 2022.
All photos contributed by Q. Johnson and Kassaundra Shanette Lockhart for Davidson Local.
