Aurora schools get new turf field thanks to Broncos grant

Aurora Public Schools will soon be the new owner of a synthetic turf field at Aurora Central High. The Denver Broncos and National Football League Foundation Grassroots Program will provide a $250,000 grant to install the new field, which is expected to be completed and unveiled this fall.

The grant from the Broncos, NFL Foundation and Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) is part of more than $3 million awarded nationwide for field renovations and construction this year.

The process was nearly two years in the making for Aurora Public Schools, which began the information-gathering process and submitted a thick proposal for the grant but was denied the first time around.

About a week ago, Michael Krueger, Aurora Public Schools’ director of district athletics and activities, received word that Aurora Central High was selected as one of 14 locations for a new field or field enhancements from the NFL/LISC Grassroots Grant Program.

“I was actually speechless, which doesn’t happen very often,” Krueger said. “I immediately thought of the positive impact it’s going to have on our community. My first thought was one of gratitude. I was just extremely grateful.”

The Grassroots program, a partnership between the NFL Foundation and LISC, has devoted nearly $46 million and supported 366 projects since 1998.

Fields are either built from scratch or refurbished to improve lights, bleachers, irrigation systems, scoreboards, goal posts and turf.

“Every community needs safe recreation spaces for children to play and families to enjoy the outdoors together,” Beverly Smith, the senior program director of LISC’s sports and recreation program, said in a release.

LISC spots local agencies and nonprofits that have an interest in building or improving football fields at schools or nearby parks and, through the program, provides the financing and technical assistance for construction.

The local agencies then oversee the building, maintenance and management of the fields and their programming.

During Pat Bowlen’s ownership over the past 34 years, the Broncos have been regular contributors to local charities and nonprofits, investing more than $30 million in the community since Denver Broncos Charities was created in 1993. For the past 15 years, the Broncos have funded the Denver Broncos Boys & Girls Club in Montbello, where they opened the teen center named for the late Darrent Williams in 2008. Each year, the team also arranges for multiple visits from players to Boys & Girls Clubs across the Denver region and regularly hosts Play 60 clinics.

In honor of Bowlen’s contributions, a youth development park in Commerce City was dedicated as “Pat Bowlen Field” last May.

The $1 million project was funded in part by The Cal Ripkin Sr. Foundation.