‘A massive undertaking’: Installation set to start on Yorkville High School’s synthetic turf football field

YORKVILLE – A decade ago, David Yodelis was playing left tackle on the Yorkville High School football team, competing on a gridiron of natural grass.

Yodelis said he never imagined that his alma mater’s football stadium would one day feature a playing field covered by synthetic turf.

Now, as the Yorkville School District Y115 maintenance supervisor, Yodelis not only will see that day arrive, but will be working with contractors and overseeing installation of the turf field on a daily basis.

The $2.3 million project, including $1.2 million for the artificial turf itself, is set to get underway on May 15, district Director of Facilities Operations Heather DiVerde said.

Completion of the turf installation is scheduled for Aug. 11, DiVerde said, with the YHS football team to play there for its first home game of the season.

To start the project, the parking lot next to the football stadium will be closed as workers begin staging equipment for the work, DiVerde said.

The fencing on the north side of the football field will then be removed and a bridge constructed over the rubber running track that was installed a couple of years ago, to allow access for heavy equipment, DiVerde said.

Then the real work will get underway as crews excavate the field and install the drainage system.

“It’s a massive undertaking,” Yodelis said.

Indeed, removing the dirt will require 300 truck loads, DiVerde said. An area farmer is taking the dirt, saving the district about $200,000, she said.

Synthetic turf fields are designed to be porous, with the subsurface fitted with drainage pipes to take the water into the city’s stormwater system.

“It’s always playable,” Yodelis said of the field. It also will be easier to maintain, he said.

Spectators will see only the field’s green synthetic fibers, but underneath will be multiple layers of rubberized infill designed to protect athletes from concussions.

The traditional Yorkville “Y” will be emblazoned on the field at the 50-yard-line, with two of the Yorkville Fox logos also gracing the field, one each at the 30-yard-lines.

In capital letters, the name Yorkville will appear in the north end zone, and team name Foxes in the south end zone.

The project will require that the area now used for the track and field team’s long jump, triple jump and pole vaulting to be relocated to the east of the stadium.

After the excavation, drainage and related work has been completed, installation of the turf is expected to get underway on July 11, giving workers a cushion between then and the Aug. 11 scheduled completion date.

For Yorkville residents who want a living piece of history, the district will be cutting up and giving away portions of the grass sod from 9 a.m. to noon on Mother’s Day, May 14, at the stadium.

In addition to the new playing surface, spectators at the football stadium will be greeted by a new scoreboard, DiVerde said.

The district is hoping to offset much of the $44,000 cost for the scoreboard by selling the scrap metal it is producing from demolition work for various capital projects.

The school district already is ripping out walls inside the former city hall building that it is purchasing from the city of Yorkville for use as the district’s administration headquarters.

Fencing, the old scoreboard and other items from district buildings are filling dumpsters with recyclable materials.

The synthetic turf installation is just the first phase of improvements envisaged for the football stadium.

Future projects are to include expansion of the stadium’s seating, construction of a new concessions area, an athletic equipment storage area and expansion of parking.

The district still is working to determine the cost of those improvements, DiVerde said.

Meanwhile, synthetic turf projects for the YHS baseball and softball fields are expected to get under way later this summer.

The baseball field, now used by the boys sophomore team, will be converted into the varsity field, with the infield receiving the artificial turf treatment and the outfield remaining natural grass. The adjacent girls softball field will be fully turfed.

Planning for additional vehicle parking includes a 130-space lot immediately north of the stadium and a 60-stall expansion of the high school parking lot along the west side of Game Farm Road.

Funding for all the improvements is coming from a $9 million general obligation bond issue that was approved by the Yorkville School Board in December of 2020.