Edison's Freedom Field a 'very special project'

MILAN TWP. — Freedom Field is ready for football. The impressive project that features an eye-catching color scheme incorporated into new synthetic turf was jump-started nearly four years ago with a $100,000 donation from CrossCountry Mortgage in November 2021. It was completed over the weekend by Maumee Bay Turf. "It looks fantastic. I can't say enough about the work Maumee Bay did," Edison principal Nick Wenzel said Monday. "The colors just pop. They did a great job of getting our colors." Coles Energy purchased naming rights to the field for $250,000, but opted to focus on honoring U.S. Navy Corpsman Maxton Soviak, a 2017 Edison graduate and former Chargers football player who was killed along with 12 other U.S. service members by a suicide bomber at the Kabul airport in Afghanistan on August 26, 2021. That idea came from Coles CEO Dan Coles. A Coles Energy Propane logo is featured prominently at the southwest corner of the field. "They wanted the focus to be on Max and our students who have gone into the military and will go in to protect the freedom we enjoy," Wenzel said. The project, which included removal of the old grass field, cost more than $700,000 and was aided by in-kind contributions from many in the community, including Hermes-Parker Concrete, Mesenburg Trucking, Boca Construction, Ohio Tree and Excavating, Leimeister Crane and Fresch Electric, whose IBEW Local 129 employees donated their labor. "We wouldn't be at this point without all those people," Wenzel said. The turf was manufactured at Turf Nation in Dalton, Georgia. The colors — Florida blue and Florida orange — were easy to match because they are the same colors used by the University of Florida. The green turf includes two alternating shades every five yards. That was a request from retiring principal Jeff Goodwin. "It was the one thing he asked for," Wenzel said. "It looks more natural because it's the way a field should be mowed." The final touches will be track surfaces added to the large concrete pads behind both end zones, which will help prevent players from slipping. The field also includes lines that will allow for soccer matches to be played at the stadium. Edison will hold a dedication ceremony on September 6 when the Chargers host Gibsonburg in their home opener. Mark Armstrong, a national account representative for Maumee Bay Turf, plans to attend the ceremony. "In our business there are fields and there are fields," Armstrong said. "We love every field we do, but this one is just special." Armstrong was impressed by the vibrant colors in the turf. "We do renderings, but you never get a true picture of what the field is going to be until we're where we are right now," he said. "It's a work of art. It's just beautiful." Armstrong said the project took on added significance for the crew at Turf Nation. The plant manager is a military veteran, as are many of the employees. Some of them produced four turf mats and two jerseys to honor Soviak, working over their lunch hours and after hours, during breaks. Soviak's parents were excited to accept the mats and also took home one of two Soviak turf jerseys. The other will be displayed in the football coaches' office. "This was a labor of love from the veterans at the plant," Armstrong said. "They did that on their lunch hours, after hours, on breaks. They wanted to do something special. This project was a very big deal for a lot of people."