Enumclaw lands NFL grant for Pete's Pool

Leaders of Your Enumclaw Area Stadium (YEAS) Improvement Committee were bursting Tuesday night when the news arrived they were awarded a $200,000 NFL Grassroots Program grant that will be used to install a synthetic, state-of-the-art, playing surface at historic Pete's Pool.

The announcement was made at the Enumclaw School Board's April 21 meeting.

"We're applauding a lot of people who worked hard on this," said Rick Bathum, who along with Chris VanHoof and John Wise head the committee.

YEAS started the application process in October. The field is expected to serve community soccer and football organizations that use the Enumclaw Expo Center stadium.

The grant, which was awarded through the Seattle Seahawks, will cover some of the field costs, but not all. A fundraising campaign has been under way and will pick up steam in the coming months. The total cost to renovate the field alone is estimated at more than $500,000.

Earlier in the process, Mutual of Enumclaw committed $50,000. More recently a $10,000 gift from the Mary Jo and Dick Kovacevich Family Foundation Fund has arrived, as well as, in-kind donations from local construction companies.

The grant stipulates work would have to be compete within 18 months.

A synthetic, all-weather surface is Phase 1 of the planned stadium improvements. The second phase calls for 2,000 addtional seats, concessions, locker and rest rooms, a score board, sound system and press box.

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