Students in a physical education class tried to run on whatever grassy areas they could find yesterday at Roosevelt High School's football field, but green spots were few and far between.

After almost three months of daily beatings from thundering cleats and buckets of rain — interspersed by days of scorching sun — the field more closely resembled a barren desert tract than a lush golf course fairway.

But come May 15, Roosevelt will be home to the newest and perhaps finest public school field in Hawai'i.

An official ground-breaking ceremony took place yesterday on a comprehensive $4 million stadium improvement project that will include a new artificial turf field, synthetic all-weather track, new long jump, high jump and pole vault pits, shot put area and concession stand. At the project's completion, Roosevelt will be the state's only public school with an artificial turf field.

"I never dreamed we'd get something like that," said Rodney Iwasaki, who recently retired as the Rough Riders' athletic director after 36 years as a football/track coach and administrator. "I'm glad the project is getting started, because it is the kids who will use it and benefit."

And not just kids from Roosevelt; Farrington and McKinley also play their home football games there.

"That was a selling point," said O'ahu Interscholastic Association executive director Dwight Toyama. "It's a shared facility."

It also was a shared effort in making the project a reality.

Hawai'i High School Athletic Association executive director Keith Amemiya approached State Sen. Brian Taniguchi, D-10th (Manoa, McCully), early in the 2005 legislative session with the proposal. Money was later appropriated, then a fundraising dinner coordinated mostly by alumni generated $600,000 for the project and the school's auditorium renovation.

"The co-chairs were Carol Fukunaga and Marie Milks, and others on the committee were Dr. Gary Okamoto, Carolyn Luke, Al Tomonari and Buzzy Hong," said Bert T. Kobayashi, a Roosevelt alumnus who also was on the fundraising committee. "We held the dinner as part of the school's 75th anniversary, and it worked out really well. Friends of Hawai'i Charities also made a donation."

Then in January 2006, the NFL announced it would provide a $200,000 grant to the HHSAA for the project. The grant fell under the NFL's "Grassroots" program, under which field refurbishment awards were allocated to communities nationwide.

Amemiya said Honolulu is the only city outside an NFL region to be awarded such a grant.

In addition, Amemiya and his wife, Bonny, personally pledged over $20,000 for a new scoreboard and two 25-second play clocks.

"We want to give back to the community and support public schools," said Keith Amemiya, who lives in Roosevelt's school district. "We also wanted to get fundraising going and encourage others to donate."

Once Gov. Linda Lingle released the appropriated money, contracts went out to bid and design firm Fukunaga & Associates, Inc. was awarded the planning contract. Kaikor Construction Company, Inc. is the lead contractor and work — assisted by 14 sub-contractors — will begin Nov. 1.

The most unique aspect is the artificial turf, which is similar to FieldTurf but is called "Momentum 51." It is the same one used by the Baltimore Ravens and University of California, Berkeley.

Jon Muraoka, a vice-president at Fukunaga & Associates, said the turf comes with an eight-year warranty and maintenance equipment is included.

"The (rain) water will percolate through crushed rocks, and the field will have a series of drains every 15 feet," Muraoka said. "So there will be no standing water."

The turf also will be able to withstand a busy schedule of games, which Roosevelt interim AD John Chung said included four straight weekends of Friday-Saturday football doubleheaders this fall.

Roosevelt football coach Les Parrilla said the field would be so hardened by this time of year, the team stopped practicing onside kicks. Track coach Jeff Azuma said the school has had to dig and patch holes on the oval every year.

Once completed, the new field and track will be named after former longtime Roosevelt coach and athletic director Edmund "Ticky" Vasconcellos.

"We talked about (an improved facility) for so long, and we used to say, 'Not in our lifetime,' " Parrilla said. "I'm happy to see it get going. It's exciting."

Read Wes Nakama 's blog on prep sports at http://blogs.honoluluadvertiser.com

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com.