Buffalo Grove High School cuts ribbon on $17.5 million project to fix flooded athletic fields

Buffalo Grove High School Principal Jeff Wardle remembers the oft-flooded athletic fields north of the school building that frequently led to postponements and teams scrambling to find dry spots to play elsewhere.

“For the past several years — decades even — we spent countless hours preparing fields, only to have them ruled unplayable on game day and having to play our home games at another facility,” Wardle said.

But a $17.5 million, two-phase transformation of the school’s north shelf outdoor playing spaces should fix all of that.

“This moment is especially meaningful to me, both as a principal and also as a former Buffalo Grove coach of both a fall and a spring sport,” Wardle said at a ribbon cutting Monday afternoon. “This space means more opportunities for our students, more pride in our programs, and more magical moments that happen right here at home.”

The $7.7 million initial phase broke ground on the northwest side of the school campus in the summer of 2024. It includes a new varsity girls’ softball field with dugouts and bleachers; a 100-yard artificial turf field with lights for football, soccer, lacrosse and physical education classes; 10 tennis courts and associated bleachers; and a concession stand building with bathrooms and storage.

Then came the $9.8 million phase two the following summer on the northeast side of campus: a new varsity boys’ baseball field, dugouts, fencing, a double batting cage, netting, parking lot and storage building. Of that cost, $3.3 million alone was for a new underground stormwater detention system beneath the baseball field. An old drainage basin was replaced with a 2-story-tall water tank, where stormwater is designed to flow across the site.

With all the rain that’s fallen in recent days, how is the system holding up?

“Better than I expected,” said Chris Uhle, Northwest Suburban High School District 214’s associate superintendent for operations.

Added Superintendent Scott Rowe: “Today is a celebration of teamwork and modern engineering to solve a major drainage problem that plagued BG for years.”

Construction started this week on the third and final phase, which will include new artificial turf, a new running track and LED lights in the football stadium. The field turf is about 15 years old and the track is 24 years old. The work should be done in time for the start of the fall sports season.