BLAINE, Minn. – (October 16, 2017) – Employees from Lowe’s in Blaine volunteered their time last week to replace roofs on 11 of the National Sports Center’s field manager gazebo shelters. In addition to time and labor, Lowe’s provided the roofing materials.
The project was part of Lowe’s Heroes, a company-wide volunteer initiative that offers Lowe’s employees the opportunity to work on a project in their own neighborhood, helping to make their communities better places to live, work and play.
The gazebo roofs were severely damaged by hail in a severe thunderstorm that hit the Blaine community on June 11, 2017. The Lowe’s volunteers installed a corrugated asphalt roofing panel manufactured by Onduline.
“With over four million visitors a year, the National Sports Center is a significant community resource for the Blaine community,” said Brandon Halverson, Blaine Lowe’s store manager. “Many of our customers and their families participate in National Sports Center programs, and they are building lifetime experiences through their sports participation at the NSC.”
In addition to thousands of local athletes who participate in National Sports Center (NSC) tournaments and programs, the facility attracts teams from around the country and the world who make a significant contribution to the local economy.
Some of the large events that have been held just during the past summer include Schwan’s USA CUP, a youth soccer tournament that attracted 1,168 teams from all around the world; USA Ultimate’s Open Club Championship, an event that attracted the best 36 adult ultimate teams from around the world; and the USA Rugby 7’s National Championship.
With 52 full-size playing fields spread over nearly 700 acres, the NSC has challenges locating customer services and communication points all around the campus. The NSC uses the gazebo shelters as a fixed location for their field services staff and medical teams during their major field sports tournaments. The gazebos are a recognizable as a public information center, a location for referees and medical support personnel to check in, and as the point where scores are reported back to headquarters.
Field managers who staff the gazebos are volunteers, but they provide a key communications and safety role for NSC tournaments. Their jobs involve checking in referees, reporting scores, reporting any security incidents at their adjacent fields, and most importantly, communicating weather emergencies to players and spectators at their fields. Field managers are always in radio contact with tournament headquarters.
