Esther Shea Fawn Mountain Track and Field's New Bleachers & Media Booth Ready for 2018 Spring Sports Season
March 27, 2018
The Esther Shea Fawn Mountain Track and Field's media booth and bleachers project was accomplished through the efforts of First City Rotary, Ketchikan Borough staff, contractors, and many volunteers in the community.
The Esther Shea Fawn Mountain Track and Field has been undergoing improvements for several years. Site preparation began in 2003 in conjunction with the Fawn Mountain Elementary School. From 2006 to 2012, the stairways and access paths were constructed, field lighting was added, and the rubberized track and turf field were installed. In 2013 and 2014, improvements were made for field accessibility, and a restroom with changing rooms was constructed. The need remained for spectator seating and for a protected media and score-keeping facility. First City Rotary president Scott Brandt-Erichsen's signature project for the local club this year was for the Esther Shea Media Booth. Through this signature project, First City Rotary recognized the need for elevated bleachers to allow patrons to watch games without standing or sitting on the track, and the need for a media booth to protect expensive equipment, facilitate better quality filming, and improve the utility of the facility. First City Rotary spearheaded the public private cooperative project to build the media booth with the bleachers wrapped around. The members met with user groups and media representatives to determine what design elements were most important, and coordinated getting the approvals necessary to move the project forward. Then First City Rotary sold duck tickets and secured a grant and other donations to raise the funds to pay for the building materials, design and electrical work. R & M Engineering Ketchikan donated some of their valuable design time and prepared designs for the booth and also to allow for installation of footings to accommodate a future roof over the stands. The First City Rotary used Duck Race proceeds and grant funds from the Rotary District to buy materials for the booth. First City electric provided a discounted rate for the electrical work, and the Ketchikan Borough Public Works director and staff provided the labor to construct the structure, with some help from Rotarians. In addition, the Ketchikan Borough provided the funding to purchase the bleachers and paid for the concrete work for the pad and the foundations for the booth and the future roof. The bleachers were also installed by Public Works Staff. The result is an integrated facility which will provide an improved experience for sports enthusiasts, better and safer opportunities for media broadcasting, recording and score-keeping, and will accommodate disabled access to the facilities. In the past, First City Rotary has built shelters around Ketchikan including Ward Lake and Black Sands Beach, bridges at Ward Lake and Settlers Cove, renovation of Senior Center kitchen, playground equipment, and benches, picnic tables, and bike racks, and stairs down to Rotary Beach (Bugge's Beach) where we also clean the road. They also provide vocational scholarships at Kayhi and UAS. First City Rotary has a Kayhi Rotary Interact group which does many good deeds including their connection in Tanzania, Africa. First City Rotary is part of Rotary International which has 1.2 million members worldwide doing good deeds "Making a Difference" focusing around: Food, Water and Sanitation, Peace, Shelter, Literacy and Education, Maternal Health, Vocations, Peace Scholars, Scholarships and famously efforts to eradicate Polio.
Editing by Mary Kauffman, SitNews
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