Monroe High finally gets "field of dreams'

After more than 15 years of hoping, planning, saving and applying for grants, Monroe High School's all-weather artificial turf softball field is finally open for business.

City and school district officials gathered to celebrate the long-awaited new field with a ribbon-cutting ceremony just before the Bearcat fast-pitch softball team's home opener on Monday, March 14. The $1.39 million project was made possible through a $250,000 Tourism Promotion Area (TPA) grant from Snohomish County, a $100,000 grant from the city of Monroe, school district reserves and funds generated by timber sold off district-owned land.

"This has been such a work in progress,GÇ¥ said Monroe School Board president Katy Woods. "We're so excited to come to this day ' this is a field of dreams.GÇ¥

The softball field is the first of three competition-level ballfields slated for the high school. The 215-foot artificial turf softball field features new lighting, a scoreboard, a new backstop, field fencing, batting cages, bullpens, covered dugouts and bleachers. The project included sub-surface drainage enhancements and infrastructure improvements to support the two additional fields.

Construction of the remaining two fields is expected to begin this spring, and will be funded by the school bond approved by voters last April.-á

The new fields will increase athletic opportunities and heighten safety for students, who previously had to travel off-campus to participate in certain sports. The new fields will also provide tournament space that can be utilized by the city and other agencies from across the county, resulting in an overarching economic benefit to the city and the county.

It was the anticipated economic benefit that made the project eligible for city and county grant funding.

Competition-level sports fields at the high school were always a Monroe School District goal, but when the school was built in 1999, the district lacked the available funding to build them. They hoped to add the fields after a bond was approved by voters in 2005, but were again stymied by insufficient funding. After the district's bond measure failed in 2010, they started looking at other options.

Initially, the district applied for the county's TPA grant in 2011, but the grant expired in 2012 based on nonfulfillment of fund expenditure requirements. The district submitted a timber harvesting application in 2013 and approached the city for assistance. Once they had the matching funds necessary to complete the project, they successfully reapplied for the TPA grant.

Monroe Mayor Geoffrey Thomas thanked the county for its contribution to the project. Councilmembers Kirk Scarboro, Jeff Rasmussen, Ed Davis, Jason Gamble, Jim Kamp and Patsy Cudaback were on hand to celebrate the new field and watch the first pitch tossed over the mound.

"This is a wonderful thing that we've got that's come together here,GÇ¥ Thomas said.