M.A. hopes to install turf & lights at Upper School athletic field
Guido Kauls field has been a great field for years for soccer and lacrosse, but school officials decided it’s finally time to create more opportunities for the MA field.
Making an artificial turf field with lights has many benefits creating opportunities to make money from club teams.
A major benefit of having a turf field is having fewer cancellations and playing in bad weather. Being able to play after it rains is a big deal. For example, this season, on a sunny day following a rainy day, the varsity softball game, scheduled for a grass field, was cancelled because the ground was still soggy. The varsity baseball game was played, however, because it was scheduled for the University of Northwestern–St. Paul’s artificial turf field.
“The turf field will be at the North Campus,” said MA athletic director Josh Thurow. “Baseball and softball will potentially practice there. The field will be open to school-day clubs, advisor groups and PE classes.”
Softball, which has a smaller field than baseball, will also have the option to play there if the field is lined.
Minnehaha’s director of finance, Mike Huray, has been working on the project of the turf and lights, too.
“We don’t have exact costs yet, and we are working on getting bids from general contractors soon,” he said “Typically projects comparable to this have been in the range of $1 million to $1.5 million. The plan is for Minnehaha to do fund-raising for the project, so the cash outlay from MA will vary based upon the success of fund-raising.”
Getting a permit to build the field is a challenge in itself.
“The City Planning Commission will be reviewing our plan in mid-May, and if there are no appeals we would like to start the project by the end of May,” Huray said in April. “The goal will be to complete the project before school resumes in August, but the timeline isn’t completely solidified yet.”
A delay in getting approval from the city could push back construction to next spring, if the work can’t be completed before the start of the ’24-’25 fall season.
Sophomore Tate Anderson, a soccer varsity starter, says many people will benefit from it.
“I think it’s going to be really good and fun to play on,” he said. “I think the soccer and athletic program will really benefit from it.”
Sophomore Elijah Jensen also has his own positive opinions on the field.
“I am looking forward and excited to play on the new field,” he said.
Softball player Anavie Bernick says she is excited to maybe play on it.
“I think the turf field will be really nice,” she said, “and as a softball player I hope we will be able to practice and play on the new field.”