SEQUIM — A group that aims to add kick to the inventory of Sequim’s declining youth soccer fields has landed a $105,000 grant, thanks to the Albert Haller Foundation, and will now be able to break ground on playfields in mid-May.
Gary Smith, president of the Albert Haller Foundation board since it was formed as a nonprofit in 1992 in memory of his friend, said Sequim Family Advocates’ project to build 13 acres of multiuse playfields east of the city of Sequim’s Water Reclamation Demonstration Park is “in keeping with Albert’s philosophy.”
That is so much so that Sequim Family Advocates will name the new fields Albert Haller Playfields.
They will be used for flag football, lacrosse and other community events and activities and should be ready to use by fall.
Close to goal
The grant, which was announced last weekend, brings Sequim Family Advocates within $40,000 of meeting its fundraising goal of $500,000, said the group’s board president, Craig Stevenson.
“The school district’s fields are wearing out,” Stevenson said. “And this resonated with the Haller Foundation.”
Calling Haller Foundation “one of the stalwarts” of helping children and families in Clallam County, Stevenson said: “We really feel a lot of commonality with what we are trying to do. It’s a great fit with us and them.”
Stevenson said ground will be broken on the project “when the dirt dries out this spring.”
Jon Jack, Sequim Family Advocates board member, said the Haller grant “was the break we’d been working for, and the momentum it creates should help us reach our goal.
“Not to mention the ‘Albert Haller Playfields’ just sounds so sweet!
“I think Albert would be so proud to have his name connected with a project that will so positively impact our community.”
Helped Little League
Smith agreed, recalling when Haller more than 20 years ago recognized the need to help Sequim Little League build a baseball park off River Road near U.S. Highway 101, donating his time and money to that project.
“I think Albert would have jumped right in the there and helped out this project,” he said of the five large and three small fields to be built on the site owned by the city of Sequim.
Haller was born in Clallam County in 1903 and worked in the logging industry. He and his wife saved money and invested it and left an ongoing legacy to be used in Clallam County.
Dave Blake, Haller Foundation board secretary, said the city of Sequim’s willingness to contribute more than $1 million in land for the fields played a part in awarding the Haller grant.
“I think it was a real opportunity to create a lot of playfield space, which was really, really needed,” said Blake, who long served on the Sequim School Board.
Foundation grants
The Albert Haller Foundation last year distributed $296,000 in grants to more than 60 nonprofits and public school districts in Clallam County.
The foundation gave $250,000 to build the Sequim unit of the Olympic Peninsula Boys & Girls Clubs and also contributed $50,000 to the Olympic Peninsula Skills Center in Port Angeles.
It also donates to student scholarships, the county’s food banks and the Serenity House homeless shelter.
Stevenson estimates 1,000 children anxious to play on new fields.
Sequim School District’s overcrowded fields are pockmarked with muddy spots and lumpy grass, he said.
At times, Stevenson said, teams are left to practice on paved portions of the school grounds for lack of available fields.
He called it a “crisis” back in October 2008 when Sequim Family Advocates first formed, and said use today by junior soccer youths has doubled over the past seven years to 500 players, with additional soccer club use at about 100 more.
Prior donations
Already donated has been more than $150,000 in in-kind construction from We Dig It Excavation, owned by John Dickinson of Sequim, Primo Construction of Carlsborg, Lakeside Industries of Port Angeles, Clallam Co-op of Sequim, Pettit Oil of Port Angeles, Four Seasons Engineering of Port Angeles and Cummins and Associates of Sequim.
Primo will install curbing for the planned 100-space parking lot. Lakeside will lay 450 feet of paved walking path around the fields, and the Clallam Co-op donated seed and fertilizer to grow the grass.
Pettit Oil donated fuel and lubricants for the grading equipment.
“It will be a capital improvement, a physical change to the town’s landscape,” Stevenson said, adding it will serve the children and families of Sequim “for the next generation.”
“I think that they’ll find it to be a better park.”
Stevenson said those wishing to help Sequim Family Advocates reach its fundraising goal can contact the group via its website, www.sequimfamily advocates.org.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
