Letter to the Editor: Official Lakeland statement regarding sports facility
February 28, 2017
Regarding the opinion piece published today entitled “The tragedy of the $2.8 million sports facility,” I’d like to offer the following facts to clear up some misperceptions in the article:
$1.6 million of the cost of the athletic field has already been raised. The university continues to work with local companies, foundations and alumni to raise the remaining funds. Regardless of fundraising efforts, the LU Board of Trustees has allocated the remainder of the money out of deferred maintenance to make the project happen. Foundational work is being completed by the project’s general contractor, and groundbreaking will occur as soon as the weather allows. We will have the new facility open in fall of 2017.
Thanks
David Gallianetti
Director of External Relations
Kimberly lehman • Feb 28, 2017 at 6:37 pm
May I suggest you phase out track and field rather than an abrupt cutoff. It’s not an expensive sport to maintain to give the currently participating seniors a chance to compete. They cannot compete as transfer seniors. They may be few but. They have invested four years of their time at Lakeland! I think the University owes it to them to allow them to compete through their senior year. Underclassmen can transfer if it’s that important to them and they will be able to compete at a different school. But you truly need to consider phasing out the track program!