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Tarps cover the field at Page’s Marion Kirby Stadium to protect the playing surface during heavy rain before a NCHSAA playoff game in December 2016.

GREENSBORO — An anonymous group of donors has offered to give $1 million to install an artificial turf field at Page High School's Marion Kirby Stadium and the Guilford County Board of Education has unanimously voted to accept the money. 

The 8-0 vote took place at Thursday night's school board meeting.

Jill Wilson, the school board's attorney, said the district was approached by the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro about the donation on behalf of the anonymous group. 

Superintendent Whitney Oakley recommended that the board approve the donation. According to district administrators, the turf field would "have lower annual maintenance costs and allow greater community use of the stadium as it will eliminate the concern regarding significant wear and tear on the current sod field."

Page High School is one of the schools that Guilford County has identified to rebuild, and it's not clear what that will mean for the stadium in the long run. Oakley said they advised the donors of that fact and they were willing to take the risk. 

Page would be the first high school in Guilford County to have its own artificial turf field.

School board member T. Dianne Bellamy-Small thought the district should accept the gift, but wished that money could have been aimed towards efforts to improve students academic test scores. 

Khem Irby, another board member, voiced concern about the lack of a plan for other schools to get similar upgrades. She made an alternate motion to tie acceptance of the gift to having artificial turf fields installed at additional schools, but it wasn't supported by any other members. 

Matt Harder, Page’s athletics director, said the move to install turf at the multi-purpose stadium was a collaborative effort among the school’s administration, athletics department and booster club.

“There’s been talk of doing this for a few months now and we just wanted to make sure everything lined up with the vision we have for the field itself,” Harder said. “We look at it as a field that could be utilized by our soccer, field hockey, football and lacrosse programs, as well as local elementary and middle schools. We’re looking at it as not just a Page field, but a community field as well.”

The donors have priced out the turf installation and are confident that they can cover the entire cost, Harder said, with no funding from Guilford County Schools required.

Asked about a timeline for the project, Harder said, “Our goal is to get the approval first and then worry about the next steps.”

The Pirates’ football, field hockey, boys lacrosse, girls lacrosse, boys soccer and girls soccer teams all play their home games at Marion Kirby Stadium, and the track and field teams use the surrounding track. This week, for example, the stadium field was home to one soccer game Tuesday, two soccer games (one junior varsity and one varsity) Thursday and will be the site of a varsity football game Friday night.

“There’s not a lot of room there for it to bounce back,” Harder said of the playing surface. “We maintain it as well as we can.”

The only times the field is not in regular use are during the winter season and during the summer. Harder hopes that the turf installation could be completed during the offseason for athletics and would not affect any Page team’s season.

“We don’t want anybody to be displaced,” Harder said. “That’s something we want to avoid at all costs.”

There will still be a track at Marion Kirby Stadium, Harder said, but it has not been determined whether a new running surface would be part of the project.

One of the main beneficiaries of an artificial turf field at Page would be the Pirates’ football program.

“If that’s something we’re able to get, that would be an obvious plus for our school and community,” said Doug Robertson, Page’s head football coach. “It’s the opportunity to practice when it’s wet and play games no matter the conditions as long as there’s no lightning. It also might be an opportunity to let other people use the field and generate some income for your school to help pay for things.”

Jeff Bateson, the Pirates’ girls soccer coach, noted the growing number of high schools in North Carolina with artificial turf fields, particularly in the Charlotte area and the western part of the state. Page’s girls soccer season ended in the spring with a loss in a NCHSAA Class 4-A West Regional final on the turf at Charlotte’s Ardrey Kell High School.

Bateson said his team “never had a chance to practice on turf. The kids are used to it (because their club teams train on it occasionally), but at the same time during our season we’d never practiced on it.”

Robertson pointed out that Page would still have grass practice fields for most sports, “So it could be the best of both worlds.”

If Page receives approval to install artificial turf on its main field will other GCS high schools look to follow in the Pirates’ footsteps?

“I would assume yes,” Harder said. “Everyone realizes the benefits of what a turf field can bring to the school and the community. I wouldn’t be surprised if other schools wanted to go this route as well.”

Contact Jessie Pounds at 336-373-7002 and follow @JessiePounds on Twitter.​

Contact Joe Sirera at 336-373-7034, and follow @JoeSireraSports on Twitter.

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Tarps cover the field at Page’s Marion Kirby Stadium to protect the playing surface during heavy rain before a NCHSAA playoff game in December 2016.

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