The First Street Field is not in good condition and paying Cornell over $5000 a year to play five football games is not an affordable, long term solution. We need an athletic facility on campus. The addition of a brand new athletic facility will not only be available for the football team to have “true” home games, the high school track teams would also be able to have their own track meets. Hosting athletic events at facilities the school owns would bring in more revenue, rather than using Cornell for games, and Coe for meets. 

The current location for home football games is Cornell’s Ash Park, and The First Street Field uptown. Using Cornell’s amazing facility is nice, but it costs the school district money. The other alternative is using the First Street Field uptown, while from the stands the field might look nice, but the second we are on the field there are noticeable holes, divots, and massive dirt patches on the field. The holes and divots in the field do not make the field a safe playing condition for the student-athletes. For example, two years ago, while playing a game at the First Street Field, a Mustang senior broke his ankle, and ended his high football career. 

Mount Vernon’s current track is good for only practice and not competition because it only has six lanes, and new track built around the football field would make it suitable to host track meets for all ages. A new track new, eight lane track would make it suitable to host a track meet, while our current six lane track is not suitable to host a meet. The current track also doesn’t have seating to have the meet either. The new facility would have more than enough seating for meets. Being able to host meets would allow the school district to make more money.

Building a new athletic facility, that would include brand new eight lane track and turf football field, all students and all families in the school district would benefit. The new eight lane track would benefit the track families and athletes for middle school, all the way up to the seniors and their families because the school district would be able to host track meets for high school teams, and the middle school teams. The new turf football field would benefit the football teams, junior high through high school, both high school soccer teams, as well as the Mount Vernon Marching Mustangs. The Marching Mustangs have never hosted their own Saturday competition, they have always had to travel elsewhere to compete. By building a new facility, that would allow them to host their own competitions. 

Building a new facility behind Mount Vernon High School is a great idea because it would benefit the entire Mount Vernon Community, every kid in middle school football, to the parents of the high school marching band.