The donated athletic facility is a dream come true for Anaheim youngsters
McCarthy Building Companies, Inc., (www.mccarthy.com), Orange County’s largest construction firm, along with 33 subcontractors and suppliers, recently completed construction of a new 25,000-square-foot athletic facility for GOALS (Growth Opportunities through Athletics, Learning and Service) youth program. Called “The GOALS Dreamscape,” the athletic facility is located in north central Anaheim adjacent to GOALS existing headquarters on La Palma Parkway. McCarthy has been involved with GOALS for over 14 years since the firm donated labor and rallied subcontractor support for the construction of the Disney GOALS Roller Hockey Skating Rink and headquarters facility in Anaheim.
“Almost half-a-million dollars of in-kind technical services, labor, equipment and building materials were contributed in order to bring this new venue from a dream to a reality,” said GOALS Executive Director Dave Wilk. “The outpouring of generosity combined with the quality of construction especially in these tough economic times has been an amazing experience for our staff, volunteers, and of course, the children.”
Donated entirely by local businesses and the city of Anaheim who provided the land along with support and guidance from the United States Tennis Association and Southern California Tennis Association, the athletic facility features two full-size, lit tennis courts; a 6,000-square-foot artificial turf arena for multiple sports; 100 meter warm-up walking/jogging track surrounding arena; 440 meter circumferential walking/jogging fitness track; a fruit and vegetable “GOALS Garden” which will be planted and tended by GOALS children; an adjoining indoor work-out center for aerobic and anaerobic fitness and a 1,500-square-foot “mini court” for additional sports play. Like all of the GOALS not for profit efforts, all program activities, equipment, uniforms, transportation access and coaching at The GOALS Dreamscape will be made available free to the low income youth participating.
“The project began in 2008 when the City of Anaheim agreed to give GOALS the chance to attract development support for a vacant parcel of nearby land,” explained Wilk. GOALS board member Tom Tait from Tait and Associates provided more than $65,000 of engineering and architectural support to propel the project. McCarthy donated more than $120,000 to the project and formed the subcontracting team that provided another $150,000 in goods and services. The team went on to complete the facility within eight months. The U.S. Tennis Association worked with AmeriCorps Vista volunteers to create the design of the tennis courts.
“This project represents a tremendous example of coordination and partnership between the private, public and not-for-profit sectors,” commented Tom Tait. “The GOALS program was conceived with one act of kindness by Disneyland over 17 years ago, and this initial benevolence has become contagious among the GOALS staff and volunteers as well as through the longtime support of companies like McCarthy and the subcontractors who have helped make this project a reality.”
The project’s contributors, dubbed “The Dream Team” by GOALS, included: McCarthy Building Companies, The City of Anaheim, Tait & Associates, United States Tennis Association, Southern California Tennis Association, SOCALGEO Soil Engineering, The Murray Company, Ahern, J.B. Lumber, Anaheim Disposal, Bapko, Berg Electric, Premiere Engineering, United Rentals, Nolan’s Equipment Rentals, Crown Fence, Conco Pumping, Cal Portland, GPS Painting, J&M, CEMEX, Catalina Pacific/Cal Portland, Rebar Engineering, Western Paving, White Cap, Shaw & Sons, Athletica, Preferred Paving, H&E Rentals, NJP Sports, Zaino Tennis Courts, PlexiPave, LA Steelcraft, Precision Surfacing, Schmitz Foam Products, DOMO Turf and FlexSand.
The GOALS Dreamscape project was completed in part by McCarthy Heart Hats, a volunteer community outreach group led by the employees of McCarthy Building Companies. The McCarthy Heart Hats community involvement program is dedicated to encouraging, supporting and recognizing McCarthy employees’ volunteer efforts in a variety of causes to ensure real needs are being met in communities where employees work, live and play. McCarthy Vice President, Operations Tracy MacDonald; MIS Engineer Ray LaTour; Project Superintendent Ray Stiffler and Engineer Aaron Rosenhaus led The GOALS Dreamscape project for McCarthy and several other McCarthy employees donated labor and technical services for the project.
About GOALS:
GOALS, headquartered in Anaheim, Calif. is a long-standing not for profit program that involves thousands of low-income youth annually through a combination of athletics, afterschool educational enrichment and community service where its youngsters help others. More than 15,000 youth have participated in GOALS’ programs since 1994 when it was started by Walt Disney Co. The organization’s services are concentrated in Anaheim, but some programs are also available in the City of Placentia and San Diego. GOALS headquarters and other major facilities are concentrated in a ¼ mile complex known as the GOALS “Youth Opportunity Zone” (YOZ). Within this area lie GOALS Anaheim ICE arena, the GOALS Gardens indoor arena (primarily used for roller hockey), facility headquarters and the “Dreamscape” project. Disney GOALS links its neighborhood outreach to the YOZ through a “GOALSFleet” of busses owned by the organization that transport hundreds of youngsters to and from their communities so they can access the free equipment, coaching and facilities operated by GOALS.
About McCarthy
McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest construction firms. In addition to Newport Beach, McCarthy has offices in San Diego, Sacramento and San Francisco, Calif.; Phoenix; Las Vegas; Dallas; St. Louis and Atlanta. McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned. More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com.
