New turf won't be ready for Glen Ellyn football opener

The new artificial turf field at Newton Park in Glen Ellyn likely won't make its scheduled debut at a youth football season opener, the latest hiccup in a project delayed by rains and challenged by a lawsuit.

“Very disappointing. We worked our tail off,” park district Executive Director Dave Harris said about the delay. “The stars just weren't aligned perfectly.”

The Golden Eagles football and cheerleading squads still will host their annual Jamboree at the park, but the teams will start their seasons Aug. 15 playing on natural grass.

The Jamboree raises $12,000 to $15,000 each year for the volunteer-run program that relies on donations.

“Despite all our efforts and due diligence, the weather has just extended the project to the point where we most likely won't be ready for Saturday,” Harris said.

The park district considered expediting the installation of the artificial turf to meet the Jamboree deadline, but that would have required hiring a second crew of union construction workers to toil 12 hours a day for just more than a week. Factoring in the overtime costs, the district would have had to pay roughly $35,000 extra, Harris said.

Installing the turf requires dry conditions, and with the wettest June on record, the district was forced to hold off on completing the long-awaited project.

A lawsuit seeking to stop the project — dropped by neighbor Nancy Perlman last month — didn't cause any delays but stuck the district with about $35,000 in legal fees, Harris said. That bill isn't included in the total cost of the project, expected to reach $950,000, or $35,000 under budget because crews didn't have to do as much as expected to modify the soil in preparation for the turf.

In the suit filed June 1, Perlman claimed the rubber infill poses environmental and health hazards. The suit also argued the synthetic materials will travel into her yard, making the soil “unfit to use as an organic garden and support an organic lawn” and making the air “around her property unwholesome and unfit to breathe,” especially during the turf's installation.

About a month after a DuPage County judge denied Perlman's bid to suspend installation and ruled that the claims were speculative, the suit was dropped July 17. Perlman and her attorney, Glen Biggus, did not immediately return messages seeking comment Wednesday.

The park district has maintained that the infill likely won't move off site, and even it did, isn't harmful. They also have changed to a pricier product that tends to stay stagnant.

“We're just happy to focus our efforts on positive and constructive activities and to get the field installed so it can be enjoyed by thousands of residents and participants,” Harris said.

The park district hopes to begin putting the product in place Friday, said Dan Hopkins, superintendent of parks and planning. It should take about two weeks to complete.

Excess soil has been moved to Ackerman Park to help convert two former, underused softball fields into green space that will host soccer and other recreational activities. The soil also has helped elevate a sledding hill, shifted slightly south at Newton.

Once it opens, the artificial turf field will need less maintenance than a grass field, officials say, and increase playing time from about a month to an estimated 200 days of use.