AC stadium project faces deadline
School must raise $500,000 by the end of February
Aurora Christian's football stadium project is entering a crucial four-week stretch.
At an informational meeting Sunday at the high school, it was revealed that the stadium project has an anonymous donor who is willing to match $500,000 in funds dollar-for-dollar, if the school can raise an additional $500,000.
That $1 million total would be enough for the school to put in FieldTurf, get all of the groundwork done, put down an eight-lane track and, most importantly, play football at Aurora Christian this fall.
However, there is a deadline to the donor's matching offer.
The deadline for AC to raise the money is the end of February. So far, Aurora Christian has raised approximately $150,000, which means that the school has about five weeks to raise the funds.
"I would anticipate in the next couple of weeks things will really start to roll here," said an optimistic AC teacher Patrick Bennett.
Bennett has been one of the point men on the project and said the anonymous donor is an Aurora man who has worked with AC on projects before. The deadline can also be moved back 10-15 days if the school is close to the $500,000 mark, but Bennett didn't want to speculate as to how close the school needed to be in order for the deadline to be moved.
Although people on the project believe it will be completed in time for the Eagles to play home football games next season, AC superintendent Paul House urged people to give whatever they could.
"We're at a crucial point in our school's history," House told the audience. "I believe if we don't do it, we're going to miss it."
AC announced various ways people can contribute to the project and be recognized for their donations. A $50 donation will get an honorary deed for one square yard of the field. Those who donate $500 or more will be in every Aurora Christian program for as long as the school exists.
There's also a paver brick program, where donations of $1,000, $2,000 or $3,000 will give donors a brick on the entrance way to the stadium with their names etched on the bricks.
The total cost of the project is still estimated to be about $2 million, so this phase will not include bleachers, a locker room or a press box, but it will give AC the chance to play home football games. Prep Football