By Holly Brown, Redmond School District public information officer

REDMOND, Ore. – The Redmond School District is inviting the community to the Grand Opening of the Redmond Rotary Community Fields at the David M. Jaqua Sports Complex at 4 p.m. on October 15th, 2022. 

The grand opening celebrates the new artificial turf fields that come with a lot of benefits for community sports. The fields are meant for community use and there is hope that the fields will bring in outside visitation and event use. The most impressive new features include the largest continuous piece of artificial turf in the state and new LED field lights that eliminate light pollution.

Upgrades to the community fields have been a collaboration between several local organizations and the school district. In 2019, the Rotary Club of Redmond came forward and wanted to support more development of the fields, said Kiara Orrison, operations administrative assistant. 

“The club was looking for a new project that was sustainable,” said Marv Kaplan, club director. 

In 2020, Hayden Homes made a large donation to install the field lights and in 2021, the school district partnered with Community Sports Development, York Bros Excavation, H.A. McCoy Engineering & Surveying, and Smith Rock Electric to install the turf and field lights. 

Having artificial turf is a game changer for maintenance, watering costs, and year-round use. The artificial turf provides relief of dirt maintenance, which is the most difficult thing to manage in central Oregon, according to Anthony Pupo, director of operations. The wind blows dirt into grass ridges, which creates an uneven playing surface. The new artificial turf has a leveled rock foundation engineered for drainage. 

Another benefit of the artificial turf is the versatility of the playing field. The mounds are portable so they can be moved to an age appropriate distance and the fencing is portable as well. Some of the standard lines are sewn into the turf and the others are created with chalk paint.

The turf fields are large enough that “you could play a football or soccer game and softball game at the same time,” said Pupo.

The field lights are also a big upgrade for the community fields. The lights are programmable to save energy cost and the need to have someone at the field to turn the lights on and off for practices and events. The lights also meet the standards of the International Dark-Sky Association for eliminating light pollution, which means there is no light blaring into the windows of the neighbors of the fields. 

The school district is hoping for a lot of community use of the fields, including youth and high school teams. Kaplan said he predicts the fields will be used every day during spring and summer. Kaplan also hopes that other visiting communities will bring in revenue to the community by staying at local hotels and eating at local restaurants when they come for events. “People who live in the valley will see how wonderful this place is,” he said.

Anyone who is interested in using the fields can make reservations online at the facilities department page on the district website, https://redmondschools.org/departments-facilities-jaqua/.  

“The community really has to be involved in different activities, that’s the only way the community can stay together and grow,” Kaplan said.

Photo Caption:

The Redmond High School girls soccer team practices at the Redmond Rotary Community Fields at the David M. Jaqua Sports Complex after school on September 26th.