HERMANTOWN, Minn.–Centricity Credit Union has obtained naming rights to a local athletic facility after donating $1 million to Hermantown Community Schools so they can convert the school's football field to artificial turf.
According to the Duluth News Tribune, “Hermantown High School’s football field has been described as many things. It’s been compared to the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles and has been called a swamp and slop. But if everything goes right, those names will no longer be associated with the Corey Veech Memorial Field next fall.”
In exchange for the donation, Hermantown superintendent Kerry Juntunen said that the stadium will carry the Centricity name for 15 years, though the field will remain named Corey Veech Memorial Field, according to the News Tribune.
“With the expense of these fields, they are so huge, so we started a few years ago trying to find an educational sponsor who would come on, alongside us, and help us with this," Juntunen told the News Tribune. “We talked to several organizations and, finally, we found that the local credit union, Centricity, was looking for a way to get their name out there and they said it was a perfect fit for them.”
Juntunen said the $1 million donation wouldn’t cover the entire expense of the field upgrade. The district will fill in the gap with operating capital funds that have been set aside for education facilities.
The $159-million Centricity has approximately 16,500 members.