Green Bay Packers’ grant help offset some costs
If Logan High School’s football team needed to host a game, it could be done two weeks ahead of the official start to the season.
Swanson Field’s $1.33 million upgrade is nearly ready for cleats. Football season officially starts Aug. 18.
The grass is gone. In its place, artificial turf – the same kind that’s been installed at U.S. Bank Stadium, the Minnesota Vikings’ new home.
But, it wasn’t the Vikings that were any help in the cost of the turf. That honor came from the Green Bay Packers, who awarded the Rangers with a $200,000 grant last October.
“If you drive by here you’ll see that they’re sewing the turf together, doing all the fine details and we hope to be done by next Friday,” Buildings and grounds director Joe Ledvina said. “In theory we could play football here next Saturday.”
But, it’s not just the football team that will take the field. Ledvina said over 60 events are played on the field, which, by the end of fall is in “terrible shape.”
“We’ll probably increase that even more,” he added. “Now, we’ll probably be able to play soccer here, as well.”
With new turf there won’t be, of course, any need for lawn mowing. But, a machine will rake the surface every 100 hours of use to get rid of any debris. Ledvina also said the most important part of the project was a new storm water sewer system that sends water beyond the railroad tracks nearby.
Phase 2 of the project will rely on more funding. It would involve replacing the bleachers and improving the press box.
