Now that the dust has settled and teams have returned to their home turf this fall, the president of the Boone County Pee Wee Athletics Association shared an update with Florence officials.
At Tuesday’s council meeting, Chris Gunkel, president of the organization, gave a presentation on a $425,000 project completed last May.
The city had loaned the group close to $470,000 to fund new turf, better lighting and curb work for the home field. Gunkel said the group was able to come in under budget, and he presented a payment toward the loan to Mayor Julie Aubuchon at the meeting.
The field now has all-new turf and improved lighting to make night games safer, he said. The project also includes some curb work. The project began in March 2024 and was completed at the end of May. Gunkel shared before and after photos of the field and lighting.
Gunkel said the project started a little ahead of time and had good weather throughout. This contributed to some savings that helped to keep it within budget. He thanked Sunbelt Rental for donating some equipment that also helped keep costs down. The original funding ask had included some contingency funds for a potential drainage issue, but, fortunately, that was not needed, he said.
“We did begin games in March, but with the turf project going on, we were fortunate enough that Boone County High School allowed us to come in and play games there,” Gunkel said. “The relationship with them in the past couple years has been phenomenal. We are directly in a great relationship with them because we are their feeder program.”
The light project was completed on May 31. For years, he said, he heard game officials and coaches complain about the poor lighting on the field. The new lights have made it much safer.
“We were able to have more night games there this year because people were more comfortable doing that,” he said. “But the biggest benefit for us, our treasurer told us at this past booster meeting that we actually, year to date, have saved $800 on our electric bill. So that’s going to be the biggest financial gain for us over the years.”
The association serves close to 700 local youth and hosts tackle football, spring and fall flag football, baseball, cheer and wrestling. They also rent the space to Fusion Soccer for their games.
“We just want to say thank you to the mayor and to city council for believing in the power of youth sports,” Gunkel said. “We came here, I believe, last December and heard the impact of youth sports on a lot of your lives, and it meant a lot to us to have the support of the mayor and city council. Special thanks to Josh Hunt for help spearheading it at the very beginning stages, as well as former Chief of Police Tom Grau, so we thank you very much.”
For more, see the website for the Boone County Pee Wee Athletics Association or follow them on Facebook or Instagram.