U-46 wants your help on new Larkin High School stadium name

Elgin Area School District U-46 is seeking the public’s help with the naming of a new athletic stadium at Larkin High School in Elgin.

The $11.8 million modern stadium complex, under construction since February and scheduled to open this fall, will feature a turf field for football, soccer, and other sports, a high-performance running track, and seating for 2,250 spectators. It is being built in the same location as an existing field on the south side of the school.

New bleacher seating will be located on the north and south sides of the stadium, with a press box on the home team’s south side. A 7,600-square-foot building on the west side of the field will house the locker rooms, concessions and bathrooms.

Other changes include a 1,500-square-foot covered outdoor pavilion, a new scoreboard, a new lighting and sound system, two ticket booth buildings, landscaping, and an ornamental fence along South McLean Boulevard.

Built in 1962, Larkin High School has never had its own athletic complex. It currently shares Memorial Field at rival Elgin High School, located about 4 miles away.

This first on-campus stadium in the Elgin school’s 63-year history will allow the Royals to host home football and soccer games, after six decades of playing at other sites.

Students, families, employees, and community members can submit name suggestions online through April 24. Nominations must follow Board Policy 4:150.

Community input also will be gathered during a town hall at 5:30 p.m. on May 6 at Larkin High School, 1475 Larkin Ave., Elgin.

A recommendation will be presented to the U-46 school board on May 18, with a final vote expected on June 1.

Anyone interested in suggesting a name for Larkin’s athletic stadium should visit info.u-46.org/stadiumname.