Imbler’s new track hits $827,000 in funds raised. School district possibly providing more
By Garrett Christensen on Wednesday, June 12th, 2024 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
IMBLER – The Imbler track and field community project continues to make steady progress. In a recent update shared by the Imbler Education Foundation’s Track Committee chair Ian Gordon, the project was recently awarded $50,000 in grants from Ag West Farm Credit and a further $10,000 from the Harold & Margaret Taylor Foundation. With these new funds in hand, the project now sits at $827,000, or roughly 64% of its $1.29 million dollar goal.
This $827,000 specifically refers to cash the project has on hand along with confirmed commitments of money. That said, there is a potential injection of funding from the Imbler School District directly, along with possible cost savings on construction, that could push the project to nearly three quarters of its goal. As written by Ian Gordon:
“At their May meeting, the Imbler school board indicated that $100,000 could be budgeted for the track during the 2025/26 budget cycle. Those funds are not a hard commitment, before approval next year of the 2025/26 district budget. However, the committee expects access to those funds toward phase two of the project, which is construction of the track oval in 2025. Also, the construction team has identified a potential $40,000 in savings. With these likely improvements to the balance sheet, the committee is working under the presumption that it has secured 74% of the funding necessary for completing the total project.”
Assuming cost savings and the $100,000 provided by the school district are included in the overall funds, a further $326,000 still needs to be raised as of the latest update. However, construction will likely begin before all funds are acquired due to the multi-phase nature of the project.
Phase one of construction, which Gordon anticipates will be approved soon, is scheduled to begin this summer and will see the installation of a lighting system and the construction of field event sites on the existing track. Phase two is scheduled for 2025 and will see the actual construction of the new composite material track oval. Phase three, slated for completion in 2026, will include the purchase of all other necessary equipment for the new track.
Project updates, track renderings, and donation links can be found at https://imblertrack.org/?fbclid=IwAR0_7hcq5eQjUlYIqRpRzwTlHqFd_qOKe8OsMYaBwwRyz2nUVE15QwOHWgo
