A member of Mayor Rob Ford’s staff approached the province in March about obtaining government money to improve the football field at the school where Ford coaches, a Queen’s Park official said Wednesday.

“They inquired about programs available for infrastructure projects such as this, but never submitted a formal application for funding,” the official said.

Ford, the coach of the Don Bosco Catholic Secondary School Eagles in Etobicoke, has faced heavy criticism in September over his use of his office to help his football teams and his business.

His young staffers have helped him manage the Eagles using a city car, and he personally asked senior city officials in July to approve road repairs outside the building of his family company. He has denied any wrongdoing in both of those cases.

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Ford’s spokesperson said late Wednesday that he was not aware of the situation and would look into it Thursday.

Before he became mayor, Ford steered money to the Don Bosco football program through his duties as a councillor.

The school has recently undergone a “major facelift in terms of the ground level,” said local school Trustee Peter Jakovcic — including a project to improve the change rooms used by the football teams.

Jakovcic said the change rooms project was initiated “for the purpose pretty much of the football club.” Ford got a company to pay most of the bill.

Under Section 37 of the Planning Act, councillors routinely allow developers to build bigger buildings than permitted under zoning rules if they agree to spend money on “community benefits” — everything from playgrounds and daycares to public art projects and street beautification work.

In 2010, when Ford was running for mayor, he negotiated a Section 37 agreement to approve a nearby Lowe’s development in exchange for a $75,000 company contribution to the change room improvements, which Jakovcic said cost $100,000 to $120,000. The arrangement was publicly disclosed and council as a whole voted in favour of it, three months into Ford’s campaign.

“There was a necessity; it was run-down space,” Jakovcic said.

The summer football team Ford started, the Rexdale Raiders, also practises at Don Bosco. The Raiders’ Facebook page features three photos of a simple-looking changeroom taken in spring 2011. “The new dressing rooms are finished! The Rexdale Raiders summer team will be the first to use this new facility,” a May 2011 caption reads.

Five Toronto sports fields have received money through the provincial infrastructure stimulus fund, but Don Bosco was not among them. The provincial official said Ford’s aide called in March about Don Bosco in particular.

The Catholic school board has asked the federal government for money to improve the fields at five schools, including Don Bosco. Angelo Sangiorgio, the Catholic board’s associate director of planning and facilities, said the schools were chosen based on their location in a priority neighbourhood, the size of the community, and the condition of the field.

The $2 million proposal for Don Bosco includes artificial turf, a track with a running surface, a “dome structure,” and lighting. Sangiorgio said he was not sure if Ford was one of the local leaders who had, at the board’s request, provided a letter of support for the application.

Sangiorgio said Ford has not lobbied the board for improvements at Don Bosco. Mike Winterburn, a spokesperson for federal Infrastructure Minister Denis Lebel, could not immediately say late Wednesday whether Ford’s office had contacted Lebel’s office regarding the board’s funding request.

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“Infrastructure Canada reviews all files on merit,” Winterburn said.

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