When the Orange Cowl Committee dedicates its new Orange Bowl Field at Moore Park in Miami’s Allapattah neighborhood on Jan. 2, it will mark the completion of what the committee calls its “legacy gift initiative. The project will commemorate the organization’s 75th anniversary celebrated in 2008-2009.


To mark the occasion, the committee broke ground on a $5.7 million project to build a youth football stadium and facilities at the park in partnership with the city of Miami.

The project features a new playing surface with synthetic field turf, a track for track and field events, 1,500 aluminum bleacher seats, a press box with a P.A. system, an electronic scoreboard, field lighting and a new concessions building.

Legacy gift or otherwise, the Orange Bowl Field is an example of what a socially conscious organization can do when it comes to those in need. The children of the neighborhood who frequent Moore Park, at 765 Northwest 36th St., will have one of the best facilities for youth when the project is open later in January.

Nor will the Orange Bowl Field be the only facility that the children can use during their evenings, weekends and other times away from school. The United States Tennis Association has for years promoted tennis at the park, through the Moore Park- Ashe-Buchholz Tennis Center that pays tribute to Arthur Ashe, one of great tennis players and a black man.

The city of Miami has partnered with both the Orange Bowl Committee and the USTA for these two initiatives at this particular park, much to its credit.

The Orange Bowl Committee is certainly showing the way.

The organization has partnered with Sports Authority and Wachovia bank for its highly successful Orange Bowl Youth Football Alliance. It also supports a range of youth activities, such as the Junior Orange Bowl, the Orange Bowl Sailing Regatta Series and the Orange Bowl International Tennis Championship.

The committee has provided $2.5 million to the project, along with paying the design fees and guaranteeing an additional $700,000. The city has matched the $2.5 million gift to complete the financing.

Such concern for the welfare of the children should be reflected in the activities of more and more organizations and corporations, especially at this time of great need in the communities in America.

They are the future and they must be able to grow up looking forward to the future in which they will live. Too many of them for too long have been relegated to the sidelines, condemned to a life without hope.