GRANDIZIO ATHLETIC COMPLEX

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Bob Grandizio reminisces (five-minute video interview).

Shady Side Academy has long been a place where dreams come true. Whether the dreams are of academic, arts or athletic triumphs, Shady Side students have the opportunity to follow their dreams and bring them closer to reality.

Over past years, Shady Side Academy has helped make some dreams come true by improving our facilities and infrastructure to better address many of the requisites of our core mission. However, with few notable exceptions, the Academy has not undertaken any major renovation of athletic facilities in the past 30 years. But now, SSA is in the process of making another dream come true - the dream of modern, safe and multipurpose athletic facilities.

To address the need for improvements to our athletic plant, the SSA Board of Trustees commissioned the development of a master plan in 2007 to upgrade existing facilities to better serve our students. The initial component of this effort centers on the Senior School campus athletic fields.

The retirement of Bob Grandizio, Sr., an iconic fixture at the Academy for more than 40 years, provided added incentive to begin work on these new facilities in late spring 2008. By creating the Robert J. Grandizio Athletic Complex, Shady Side Academy not only honors Coach Grandizio's accomplishments and legacy, but also provides the facilities necessary for our students to better prepare and compete athletically.

Thanks to the thoughtful and generous leadership gifts by some alumni, parents, grandparents and friends, we have successfully completed the initial phase of the project. Their gifts have provided the following:

• The installation of a synthetic turf, multipurpose playing surface. This field is home to our varsity, freshman and Middle School football programs; varsity, junior varsity and Middle School boys' and girls' soccer and lacrosse teams; and varsity, junior varsity and Middle School field hockey squads (18 teams in all)
• The installation of a state-of-the-art lighting system, enabling our teams to play and practice "under the lights," thus extending the hours we're able to utilize this valuable resource
• A resurfaced track and the installation of modern timing system infrastructure
• The construction of an entrance plaza in the north end of McKelvy Field

The success of the initial phase of the project leads us now to the next component of the initiative. This phase includes the installation of paving stones, retaining wall and stairs in the entrance plaza, plus the interior completion of the concession stand, ticket booth and restroom facilities.

To help underwrite the costs of this phase, we will be offering our alumni, parents and friends the opportunity to purchase individual pavers that will make up the floor of the entrance plaza. Each stone will be inscribed with the donors' names and/or a short message. Appropriately sized pavers will be available to honor various levels of gifts. Further information will be available on this website soon.

Those of you who have had the opportunity to take in a varsity game under the lights or watch our Middle School teams compete on the new field have witnessed the obvious excitement of our students and the Shady Side Academy community. We hope that you will not only take the opportunity to attend a Shady Side athletic contest but also invest in the completion of the Robert J. Grandizio Athletic Complex by purchasing a commemorative paving stone.

The dream is being realized... you can help make it happen.