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050704 Donation brings stadium dream one step closer
The Red has not gone above the fox's nose for over a year so dreamers at Bedford are raiding fund balance to make tax payers pay for their dreams.
Never give a sucker an even break-W.C.Fields
By KEN KOSTIK
Fox Lane Athletic Director Tom Caione has this dream. Pox Lane Stadium is filled, the bright lights are on, and they are illuminating the Bedford school's brand new artificial-turf field. The sparkling new bleachers are packed with Fox Lane students, parents, and fans. fie is standing above it all - smiling like a proud parent.
Caione's dream is close to becoming a reality. The bleachers have been installed, as have the lights, and whenever there is a game on the Fox Lane campus, the stands are usually packed.
All that is missing is the artificial turf, and that may change by this corning fall. A $100,000 donation by Bedford's Paula and Ernie Desperito has helped push this dream closer to fruition. Now Caione hopes that Proposition 2 passes as part of the May 18 elections in Bedford and clears the final hurdle for the installation of the turf.
The proposition would allow the Bedford Central School District to use $1,760,000 of fund balance, $120.000 in donations, and $44,000 in State Rescue II funds toward a number of improvements within the system.
The fund balance is predominantly derived from unexpended appropriations for employee health claims, civil service retirement fees, special-education tuition, debt service, and school-bus transportation. If passed, the proposition would not require. any additional tax revenue from taxpayers in the district.
"We feel very strongly about the plans that Tom has put together and is implementing," said Mrs. Desperito. "We respect the educational opportunities that Fox Lane has offered, and we feel just as strongly about the athletic opportunities. Athletics has always been a
very big part of our lives."
The Desperitos are 32-year Bedford residents. All five of their children attended Fox Lane High School. Their oldest daughter, Elise, 43, is a doctor in the radiology department at Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco and lives in Bronxville. Amy, 42, is married with two children and` resides in Miami.
Daughter Amanda, 40, is an accountant and lives locally in Bedford, while son, Tom, 37, is a urologist who resides in Wilmington, Del. While at Fox Lane, Tom was a standout lacrosse and football,.player. Their youngest child, Ann, 33, is a physical therapist for GoldmanSachs in New York City. After a successful career in the beverage and restaurant businesses, the couple set up The Desperito Foundation with an eye toward making contributions to worthy local causes.
"This donation is our way of saying thank you to the school for all that they did for our children," said Mr. Desperito. "To help Tom, who is the most enthusiastic person that I have ever seen about getting this type of a job done.
"We saw that Tom was having some trouble getting some funding to make this plan come to pass and decided to step up and help," Mr. Desperito said.
The proposition includes many more improvements to various areas throughout the district in addition to the fields. If it passes, the main stadium field will be completely turfed, as will the infields of the baseball and softball diamonds.
The proposition is divided into four sections: furniture and equipment; capital projects; capital projects in the event the Gregory Avenue property fails to be sell; and the installation of the turf fields.
The furniture-and-equipment portion of the proposition will. coyer' tte urchasing of classroom desks, tales, chairs, bookshelves, instructional equipment, storage cabinets and shelves, office furniture, and window treatments for the Pound Ridge Elementary School, the Mount Kisco Elementary School, and the high school, as well as library furniture and equipment for the Mount Kisco and Pound Ridge elementary schools and cafeteria and gymnasium furniture and equipment for the Mount Kisco Elementary School.
This portion of the proposition will not exceed $500,000.
Among the capital projects listed are the refinishing of the auditorium floor and stage at the Bedford Hills Elementary School, as well as replacing four classroom sink-and-counter units at the school. Also included in this section is the replacement of radiator enclosures and the removal of carpeting and the installation of floor tile in the main lobby and kindergarten classrooms at the Bedford Village Elementary School, the painting of the large gymnasium, the replacement of gymnasium lights, and the replacing of the electronic gym divider with a mesh-curtain divider at the High School .
This section also calls for the removal of carpet and replacement with floor tile in an estimated 13 classrooms at the middle school, as well as classroom renovations and repairs to ceilings, lights, and walls at the Mount Kisco Elementary School. The total cost of this section is not to exceed $250,000.
If the sale of the Gregory Avenue property in Mount Kisco is not finalized by the end of the 2004 calendar year, the school board will include $286,000 from the surplus fund balance as well as $44,000 from State Rescue II funds to pay for the replacement of a classroom window wall, replacement of carpet in three classrooms, the replacement of exterior doors, and several other projects at the Bedford Village Elementary School; the partial repair of the water distribution piping system on the Fox Lane campus; the replacement of the fire-alarm system in the administration building; the replacement of the science-lab tables at the middle school; and the partial replacement of classroom sinks and cabinets, in addition to the replacement of the gymnasium floor at West Patent Elementary School.
The final portion of the proposition calls for $880,000 to be allocated for the installation of the turf fields.
"I look at the turf field as being a revenue-producing facility for the district," said Caione. "At present, we spend more than $35,000 each year maintaining the field - that includes the seeding, fertilizing, maintenance, and manhours. If we get the turf, we can increase the number of contests that we host on it from the 35 we will hold this year to about 105 or more next year."