St Francis High School in Athol Springs has gained a reputation over the years for fielding competitive football teams Unfortunately the schools football field - on Camp Road across the street from the main campus - hasnt measured up as well The lighting dates from 1978 and is dim All the football lacrosse and soccer games chew up the grass and often leave bare patches and muddy spots Players suit up on campus and walk across busy Camp Road to get to the field But by this fall all of that will change thanks to several large gifts to the school including one from Bill Polian the former Buffalo Bills general manager and his wife Eileen Officials at the all-boys private Catholic high school that overlooks Lake Erie expect work to begin as early as next week on a long-awaited 4 million athletic complex that will include an artificial turf field a field house new lighting a new athletic track and paved and expanded parking Weve talked about it for years In some ways it was a want It now has become a need said the Rev Michael E Sajda school president Its a project that was overdue and needed to be done to keep us competitive with our peers in the area Many high schools public and private have made significant investments in their outdoor athletic complexes over the last few years Canisius High School which competes against St Francis in the Monsignor Martin Association opened a new turf field for football and other sports in 2008 in West Seneca This past fall Grand Island and Niagara Falls high schools debuted new multimillion-dollar sports complexes St Francis still needs to raise about 1 million to fully pay for its project The 1 million gifts from Bill and Nancy Gacioch and from John and Mary Ann Mastrantoni as well as a substantial contribution from the Polians whose two sons graduated from St Francis allow the school to move ahead with confidence that other donations will follow The synthetic grass field alone is expected to cost 600 000 to 800 000 Its the same kind of turf currently used at Ralph Wilson  Stadium  in Orchard Park The all-weather running track will grow from six lanes to eight with distances marked off in meters in accord with todays standards instead of the old yard measurements that define the old track The two-story field house will include locker rooms a concession stand a training room restrooms and a room for the officials all on the first floor The schools Athletic Hall of Fame also will be located on the first floor Im most excited about that Sajda said We havent had a place within the school where we could showcase our Hall of Fame The second floor will feature a social room overlooking the field with a capacity of 125 people While the track and turf will be ready for use by the beginning of the fall 2015 season the field house probably wont be completed until late fall The school plans to keep the metal bleachers which were installed four years ago but everything else will be overhauled We said if were going to do this were going to do this the right way said Paul S Bartell Jr vice president of development and alumni relations who also coaches the varsity baseball team Weve always had good teams here Now were getting a facility that matches them In addition to the football soccer lacrosse and track and field teams the new complex will be used by the entire student body in physical education classes Bartell said the school expects that other programs will be able to use it Certainly we want it to be an asset to the community at large as well he said The school has hired Schneider Design for architectural services and R P Oak Hill Construction as project manager