Cookeville Turf Field Approved

Cookeville High School will get a new synthetic turf surface after the school board approved the financing completed by Cookeville parents.

The school board gave the parents and about 75 Cookeville Cavalier athletes in attendance a standing ovation. The group raised close to $800,000 to replace Cookeville’s football field.

“It’s just been awesome seeing the community come behind this project and support our student athletes at Cookeville High School,” Organizer Caylor Taylor said. “I think on the days when it was discouraging to think about all that the community had done to this point that kept this going on a lot of tough dates.”

The School system did not fund any of the project.

“Considering everything that’s been going on, it’s an amazing feat for them to be able to get out into the community and talk to so many different people and and, you know, focus on improving not just our field, but the, you know, atmosphere that our kids can enjoy,” School Board Member Lynn McHenry said. “And during this time, you know, we need to try to champion those things as much as we can.”

Organizer Julie Baker said construction could begin as soon as next week on the 75-day project.

“We have the contractor lined up and he was actually here meeting yesterday and so he is ready,” Baker said. “It will be either this following week or one of the very first days of the next week. So within a week, we should be ready to go. He has his subcontractors lined up. He has the community members who have volunteered all kinds of donations. He has those people lined up as well.”

The goal of replacing the field began late last fall. The group developed a $1 million goal to include the field and an expanded indoor facility. Fundraising began one week before the tornado struck the Highway 70 corridor. Baker said that, followed by COVID, made the push difficult as many local businesses simply could not afford to give. Taylor said everyone persevered.

“There’s really not anything I don’t think a parent would do to give their child the very best situation possible,” Taylor said. “And it’s not just our children. It’s all the students in Putnam County. And quite frankly, we hope we’ve set a good example in multiple ways that you really can do anything if you set your mind to it.”

The football, lacrosse and soccer teams have dealt with poor field conditions on the field for years. Numerous games have been postponed or moved to other locations, such as Tennessee Tech, because the field was not playable. Most 6-A football teams statewide has synthetic turf.

“We really just want to thank all of the community members who have helped us,” Baker said. “You know, we did. We definitely did not do this by ourselves. I mean, we were just kind of the ones organizing and pushing behind the scenes. But this community really came together and every single donation from five dollars to $50,000. Every dollar counted and made a difference in the campaign that we had.”