Heavy rains on Aug. 22 and 23 proved too much for the new football field at Tommy Roberts Memorial Stadium, forcing school officials to move the Aug. 23 football game to The Backyard practice complex behind Key West High School.
“Thank you, everyone, for making the transition over to the Backyard last night,” KWHS athletic director Andrew Freeman posted on Facebook the day after the Conchs’ victory at the Backyard. “I wish we could have played at Tommy Roberts, but the conditions of the field were unsafe for our boys.” Freeman included photos and a video showing at least 6 inches of standing water on the new natural grass field.
The comments that followed his post criticized the school district, board and builders of the new stadium whose cost is currently just shy of $20 million — with more phases still to come.
“Something has to be said to MCSD administration and board about ‘the steal’ of money, poor design and building of the new, but not improved Tommy Roberts Memorial Stadium,” Danny Jimenez commented after commending Freeman for managing the flood “crisis” at the last minute. “Someone in the district must answer to what happened with this rebuild. … This is a major setback, especially since the old playing field drained perfectly.”
The next phase of construction will include raising and resurfacing the football field, the school district’s operations and planning director Pat Lefere told the Keys Weekly on Sept. 3.
“Our initial focus, when planning the new stadium back in 2022 was on the bleachers, locker rooms and concession area because all were in such disrepair,” Lefere said. “So capping and elevating the field, along with our ability to improve its drainage, will have to wait until the next funding phase, but it is included in the stadium’s five-year plan and has always been part of that plan.”
An environmental assessment before stadium construction started showed contamination of the soil under the football field that would require a layer of material to “cap” and seal the contamination. The additional layer will raise the field 6 or more inches.
“To be clear, we are not finished with the field. That is not the finished product,” Lefere said. “There’s another phase that will raise it. Thank you for contacting us and letting us provide that input.”
But in the meantime, until that phase — and the funding for it — is approved, the heavy rains that are common in the late summer and fall in the Keys could continue to force occasional home football games to the Backyard.
“Fortunately, the football and soccer teams have an alternative location where they can play, but come springtime, the football field is the outfield for the baseball team,” school board member Darren Horan said, adding that the school board and district administration have “basically given the baseball program a $2 million budget so they can prioritize the next steps for what they want on the Rex Weech baseball side of things.”
Horan said the baseball program could decide to prioritize the field raising, or could determine that other improvements take precedence.
He added that the school board is beginning discussions to apply for Tourist Development Council money to continue funding the stadium improvements — if the venue can be used as a community event space. Those discussions are in the very early stages, Horan said.
