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Priester looks to Olympics trials
Volleyball camp new coach's first chance to
work with Newberg High players
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GFU moves slowly forward on sports complex |
Facility will house new baseball, softball and
soccer fields as well as grandstands |
By Amanda
Newmwn, Newberg Graphic reporter
E-mail Amanda at
anewman@eaglenewspapers.com
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George Fox University has taken
the first visible steps toward the creation of its new outdoor
athletic facility. When the project will be completed, however,
remains to be seen.
The proposed facilities, planned for a parcel of land at the corner
of Villa Road and Crestview Drive, will include two soccer fields, a
baseball field, a softball field and grandstands.
The university began work on the infrastructure this month,
focusing on road improvements. “Our hope is to ... get the mass
grading on the site done before it starts to rain (this fall),” said
Craig Taylor, GFU athletic director.
Project
manager Dana Miller, vice president of marketing and advancement at
the university, said that the infrastructure work will include the
completion of Center Street where it meets Crestview Drive (a
project begun by Joan Austin Elementary School) and improvements
along Crestview Drive and Villa Road.
Villa Road, a city-designated “major collector,” will be widened to
three lanes including a center turning lane, Miller said.
The school hopes to complete the infrastructure work, managed by
Dundee-based constructor Saunders Company, in 60-90 days.
“We are hopeful that ... we would be able to begin building some of
the venues on the athletic fields next summer,” Miller said.
However, the timeline for the project beyond the infrastructure
depends on when the school can receive the necessary private
financing.
The total cost of the project is estimated at $9.5 million. The
complex will be constructed on 23.8 acres of land donated by Ken and
Joan Austin, valued around $7 million, Miller said.
Costs for the Villa Road improvements, estimated at $1 million,
will be divided between the university, the city and Newberg
Christian Church.
George Fox will cover all the costs for the Crestview Drive and
Center Street improvements, spending a total of more than $750,000
on street improvements.
“(The sports complex) will serve us well, but we’re equally excited
for what it will do for the city of Newberg,” Miller said.
The project itself is not news to the university: “the dream for
new fields (began) seven or eight years ago” when a remodel and
renovation of the current athletic facilities was planned, Taylor
explained. When the Austins committed the property in 2002, the
project was reworked to involve the creation of new fields.
“(The complex) is central to our long-term development, in part
because it frees up about seven acres of land in the contiguous
campus,” Miller explained. “The other thing it does is provide us
with postseason-ready fields.”
The university’s current facilities do not meet NCAA standards for
postseason play.
“We want to have outstanding resources available to our students,”
Miller said.
George Fox is working on the project with three companies: the
Saunders Company, which is handling most of the infrastructure work;
W & H Pacific, which will perform much of the site engineering; and
Robert Gray Partners, the general contractor that has worked on
several of the school’s large projects. |
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From
Aug. 15, 2007, Newberg Graphic
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