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A smashing success
PHL Inc.
takes bull-by-the-horns tack to refurbishing
downtrodden football facilities at city
schools. |
- Tom Wheatley
ST. LOUIS
POST-DISPATCH
- St. Louis Post-Dispatch
(MO)
|
- June 29, 2007
- Section: Sports
|
- Edition: Third Edition
- Page
D3
|
The PHL Inc. bandwagon keeps rolling
along.
The volunteer group of area businessmen formed
2 1/2 years ago after reading a Post-Dispatch
series on the sorry state of football fields in
the St. Louis public schools. Their single-minded
mission: Give kids a safe place to play at no cost
to the cash-strapped district.
Almost 90 corporate and civic partners
throughout the region have joined to overhaul five
fields - including the district's four ramshackle
stadiums - and build a sixth field from scratch.
As another summer of work is underway, how
does PHL Inc. grade out?
"Straight A's,'' said Sam Dunlap,
supervisor of athletics for the district's Public
High League, from which the group took its name.
Improvements and equipment purchases so far
are worth about $1.2 million on the retail market,
said PHL Inc. President Thom Kuhn.
The bandwagon got a mighty push from the
Rams and Anheuser-Busch, which jumped aboard with
the largest cash gifts to date. A-B wrote a
one-time check for $100,000 last winter. The Rams
then pledged $250,000 over five years, with the
first $50,000 installment arriving last month.
Both companies got personally involved by
sending executives to the recent PHL Inc.
board meeting. Bill Jones, the brewery's
vice-president of national retail sales, and Bob
Wallace, executive vice-president and general
counsel for the Rams, did more than sit in. They
waded in with ideas on several scheduled events,
including:
-A PHL Inc. bus tour on Saturday, in
which political, civic and business leaders can
see the fieldwork and talk to players and coaches.
- The third annual PHL Inc. Paint
Day, on July 14, when pros from Thomas Industrial
Coatings volunteer again to lead players, coaches
and community helpers in sprucing up five fields.
"They're not talkers, they're doers,''
Wallace said. "They didn't wait for us to take
leadership on it. They see a problem and they
attack it.''
In turn, Kuhn, the CEO of Millstone Bangert
construction company in St. Charles, hopes Wallace
and Jones will accept invitations to join the
group's current eight-man board of directors.
"We don't know anything about marketing and
stuff like that,'' said Kuhn, whose company is
helping rebuild Highway 40 and Interstate 170. "We
play in the dirt and build things. That's why we
need people like Bill and Bob.''
PHL Inc. treasurer Charlie Tallman,
a bridge estimator at Millstone Bangert, also was
revved up.
"That was the best board meeting we've ever
had, because of the new people who were there,''
Tallman said. "They were excited about the
opportunity to help move this thing forward.''
That momentum never is slowed by friction.
PHL Inc. stays above the political fray,
patiently working with the district's changing
leadership.
The group also sticks to a no-nonsense
financial plan: Tap business friends to donate
material, manpower and in-kind services. Failing
that, find vendors willing to operate at cost. If
cash must be spent, shop hard for discounts.
PHL Inc. does not pay itself. The
members even absorb overhead expenses. The bottom
line: For every dollar donated, a hundred pennies
go to work for the district's kids.
This tight-fisted approach has won
supporters who might not donate directly to the
district, with its history of mismanagement.
Even so, the Rams and A-B were not easy
sells.
The PHL Inc. point man was Keith
Wortman, a former Cardinals offensive lineman. He
had backup from fellow PHL Inc. directors
Dan Dierdorf, his former linemate, and Jim
Hanifan, his former line coach.
Wortman stressed that the safer fields have
spinoff benefits.
"Look how many more kids are
participating,'' Wortman said. "And if you're
participating in sports, you've got to go to
class. And that's what this is all about.''
PHL Inc. has bought nearly 400 new
sets of pads, and helmets, to meet demand. Some
went to players sharing gear on under-stocked
teams.
School and community pride has helped keep
vandalism - an early worry - to a minimum.
"Everyone is so happy with what these guys
have done for the city schools,'' said PHL vice
president Cozy Marks, who heads the Vashon Unified
Alumni. "Folks in the community are beginning to
take more ownership in their schools and teams,
and encouraging others to participate.''
That kind of feedback keeps driving the
PHL Inc. bandwagon.
"These kids are good kids,'' Tallman said.
"Whatever happened in the district is not their
fault. If you have outlets for the kids to go to,
like sports, then they don't get involved in silly
things. And they get to do something positive.''
(For details on PHL Inc. call
Charlie Tallman at 636-949-0038, ext. 117 or go to
phlinc.org)
PHL INC. PROJECT TIMELINE
BEAUMONT
Done: Graded, sodded field; installed new
sprinkler system, NFL goalposts, scoreboard.
This summer: Re-do drainage system; perform
maintenance; repair all-weather track.
Notable: Despite lack of amenities, JV
averaged about 200 fans last fall in the first
campus football games in memory.
CENTRAL V&P (formerly Southwest)
Done: Graded, sodded stadium field;
repaired and painted bleachers, fencing; installed
new sprinkler system, NFL goalposts, player
benches.
This summer: Re-pave entrance; upgrade
drains; install new scoreboard; Paint Day July 14.
Notable: V&P has a band but no football
team. The field suffers less pounding because the
eight schools that play football use it for games
but not practices.
GATEWAY TECH
Done: Graded, seeded stadium field;
repaired bleachers; installed new sprinkler
system, NFL goalposts, player benches, soccer
goals, press box.
This summer: Repair all-weather track;
treat soil and seed; re-do drains; repair stair
rails; Paint Day July 14.
Notable: The only PHL field with lights had
been over-used with about 25 games per season.
Additional fields have half that total.
ROOSEVELT
Done: Graded and seeded field; re-did the
concession area; repaired, painted bleachers;
removed rickety bleachers; installed new sprinkler
system, NFL goalposts.
This summer: Re-do drains; Paint Day July
14.
Notable: In 2005, the Rough Riders reached
the state playoffs for the second time in school
history, playing at home on their refurbished
field.
SOLDAN
Done: Graded, seeded stadium field; painted
bleachers; removed rickety sections; installed new
sprinkler system, NFL goalposts, player benches,
soccer goals.
This summer: Repair locker rooms; remove
unneeded fencing; Paint Day July 14.
Notable: Former coach Terry Houston, now
principal at Roosevelt, and his Tigers starred at
two previous Paint Days, helping turn their
run-down stadium into a model home.
VASHON
Done: Created lush field from campus scrub
land; installed new sprinkler system, NFL
goalposts, player benches, soccer goals, 3,000
linear feet of vinyl fencing.
This summer: Install scoreboard; seed,
maintain field.
Notable: The $40 million school opened five
years ago, but has had no outside improvements
except a parking lot.
CLEVELAND JR. NAVAL ROTC
Down the road: Committed to upgrading
shortened, dirt field and adding stadium amenities
if school board decides to return students from
Pruitt Academy.
SUMNER
Down the road: Committed to creating
practice field and stadium if land is made
available at Tandy Park next to campus, or by
clearing abandoned property elsewhere in the
neighborhood.
MILLER CAREER ACADEMY
Down the road: Cannot build on the new but
landlocked campus in Grand Center. Ideally,
Cleveland and Sumner would get campus sites and
the Phoenix would become the home team at Central
V&P (Southwest).
NORTHWEST
This summer: Repair bleachers; install
temporary scoreboard; Paint Day July 14; purchased
40 sets of equipment (new high school will play a
JV schedule this fall).
CARNAHAN
This summer: Purchased 40 sets of equipment
(new high school will play a JV schedule in the
fall.)
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