The school's booster club is seeking hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations for a new synthetic grass football field, a new scoreboard and a revamped field house.

"We need a pick-me-up," said Jodi Witte, who's organizing the fund drive. "We're the heart of Cary."

Witte expects alumni and local businesses will fund much of the project, which could cost up to $1 million. The county school system is unlikely to provide any money - instead, the non-profit Cary Imp Club will handle finances for the project. The organizers hope to have the new field laid within a year.

The turf alone would be a hefty investment of more than $600,000, but boosters say it's cheaper to maintain and would essentially give the school another athletic field. Most teams can't practice on the grass game field for fear of damaging it, but they could use a turf field constantly.

And because the school has little room to expand, it can't build any more practice fields.

"I would rather have a grass field, but it's not practical, especially here," said Mike Dunphy, the school's athletic director. "It's a need."

Once constructed, Dunphy said, the turf would save the school the cost of reseeding, mowing and other maintenance, and could allow Cary High School to host more games for local middle schools and club teams. The turf needs replacing every decade for about a fourth the original construction cost.

Parents and staff also hope to revamp the field house, which reeks of mildew and houses just nine toilets for the 1,500-plus people who turn out for Friday night football games. A new digital scoreboard is under consideration.

Dunphy, who is in his second year heading athletics at the school, said the facilities would bolster the school's image and attract students. As private schools upgrade their facilities, he said, "you lose athletes and you lose families."

About a dozen public schools in North Carolina have turf fields, according to Davis Whitfield, commissioner of the N.C. High School Athletics Association. Most are in the state's western half, where cold weather and snow can wreak havoc on grass fields.

Cardinal Gibbons High School, a private institution, this summer became the first Triangle secondary school to open an artificial turf field. The new field allows gym classes to play soccer only hours after heavy rainstorms, said Jason Curtis, the school's principal.

The Cary boosters are unsure how quickly their money will come, and the school may adjust its plans to meet the funding. The Wake County Public School System hasn't taken an official position on the project, but a spokesman said individual schools may ask permission to upgrade their facilities.

"It's been on the wish list for many years," Witte said. "It's finally coming off the wish list and onto the 'to do' list."