By Joe Hadsall

jhadsall@joplinglobe.com

When Joplin High School’s football team takes the field for its first home game this fall at Junge Stadium, it may be on a new synthetic-grass field.

A group of parents, coaches and others spoke to the Joplin R-8 Board of Education during a work session Tuesday night. Bobby Landis, who introduced himself as a concerned parent, said the group had secured an anonymous underwriter to cover almost half the cost for three years. The group, he said, would pay the underwriter back via fund-raising campaigns over three years.

“We need to strike while the iron is hot,” Landis said after the meeting. “We don’t get the opportunity to get matching funds very often.”

Jason Berning, a representative of FieldTurf Tarkett, said replacing the grass with a FieldTurf surface would cost about $780,000. Berning said his company won a state bid, which means the district could accept his company’s price without seeking its own bids.

The board will consider the matter during its regular meeting on May 8. If the board agrees to spend about $405,000 on the project, the field could be finished by the first home game of the 2007 season.

Board members discussed the matter with the sound of rain pounding the roof of the Timothy Reynolds Multimedia Center at the high school.

“If we played football on that (Junge) field tonight, it would be ruined,” said board member Robert “Bo” Lee. “We have the opportunity to take advantage of an anonymous donation.”

Board member Ashley Micklethwaite was concerned about the proposal, saying the board’s share, stretched over a 10-year period, would be more expensive than maintaining the stadium’s current turf.

“Based on these preliminary numbers, I can’t see committing to this,” Micklethwaite said. “Not when we have higher priorities.”

Assistant Superintendent Doug Domer said the district spends about $31,000 annually to maintain the stadium’s field.

Landis, who announces Joplin football games on KZRM-AM, said the anonymous underwriter would finance $375,000 of the cost. The underwriter would be paid back through pledges and fund raising over the next three years.

Ron Pence, senior vice president of Arvest Bank, is representing the underwriter.

Superintendent Jim Simpson said schools across the state are installing synthetic-grass fields because they are more durable, cheaper to maintain and help prevent injuries.