Memorial field turf project will move early home games

Boys soccer players at Glenbard West High School will have to wait just a bit longer before they can jump on their home pitch at Memorial Field.

When they do, however, officials say they will have a field they can be proud of.

The $1.6 million project to install artificial turf on the field in Glen Ellyn should be ready some time in September but will force at least two of the team's home games to be moved to the school's football facility, Duchon Field. The pitch lies just south of the school, across Crescent Boulevard.

"I can tell you every day we come into work and it puts a big smile on our faces," Assistant Principal for Athletics Linda Oberg said. "The kids are really excited about it."

With the team's Sept. 9 home opener looming, officials scrapped an aggressive timeline they had advocated early in the summer. While Oberg said Sept. 17 was the target date for the project's completion, other officials did not want to be as specific and instead said "substantial completion" of the project would be in September.

The team's third home game is slated Sept. 21 against York High School.

A midsummer construction strike, which happened at the time of the project's official groundbreaking July 13, delayed work and forced officials to look at the more conservative schedule.

The field has long been the subject of ridicule from opposing players and coaches. Officials said inclement weather often turned the pitch into a sea of mud and the subpar atmosphere and travel that sent players to other venues put them at a competitive disadvantage.

"We're so used to having to move things around that this (construction) has not been an inconvenience," Oberg said. "We often hold games within a 15-mile radius."

Memorial Field hosts the boys soccer team and the school's field hockey team, which has never had an official home stadium.

The parent-driven Gain Ground group raised about $330,000 for the project while about $913,000 was paid for through Glenbard High School District 87 vendor contracts and maintenance and travel savings related to the turf.

Assistant Superintendent for Business Services Chris McClain said the shuffled schedule has been expected all along.

"To lock in a day would not be smart of me but we're still tracking to a substantial completion date in September and trying our best to avoid any delays," he said. "But we are working very hard and the construction firm is working diligently to make up for lost time."