PEORIA — Metamora high school has long held the high ground in athletic success.
Now the Redbirds are giving their athletes and students a new surface at venerable Malone Field — artificial turf.
Metamora school superintendent Sean O'Laughlin says the school district approved plans on Monday for a $1,585,378 renovation that will take Malone Field from natural grass to turf this summer.
The project will be funded with a working cash bond.
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"The school district is effectively taking out a loan," O'Laughlin said. "It will be paid between now and 2028, when it expires. It will have a minimal impact on the taxpayers."
Said Metamora athletic director Jared Hart: "It helps us increase our usage vs. updating and maintaining our grass field. That was the turning point for us."
Why it was time for turf
A lot of area schools have gone to turf in recent years, Dunlap, Washington, Morton, East Peoria all among them. Illinois Valley Central recently announced a $6.7 million project that will include adding turf to its football, soccer, softball and baseball fields in Chillicothe.
For Metamora, it was seeing the reality of maintaining an aging grass surface against spending more to put in turf and increase athletic and event usage for its students.
"We visited turf fields in the area and talked with vendors," Hart said. "It's just getting to the point when we needed to spend time and money to get a grass field back to where it needs to be. But we saw our usage was going to remain the same."
O'Laughlin and Hart lauded the devoted grounds crew that has kept Malone Field in shape for a generation. They will count on them to continue maintaining the new surface, and hopefully make their job a little easier.
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"Basically, we've had concerns with multiple use on our grass field," O'Laughlin said. "Football, marching band, soccer, etc. We were seeing drainage issues and undulations. Our caretakers have done a great job making it last all these years."
Hart said the projected fixes were $300,000 to $400,000 to renovate the natural grass field. That also included advice to limit the usage of the grass surface to 40-45 times per year.
"We researched all the different options," Hart said, "weighed the larger (financial renovation) number with an artificial surface, and what would serve more students."
What Metamora is getting
The steps toward renovation began in October. The project is centered on the playing field. A track around the field is an existing and recent upgrade and won't change.
No new structures are coming to the complex; it's a field-centric renovation. The school added new home bleachers and a pressbox in 2008 and a new scoreboard in 2016.
"We want to use the stadium in multiple groups — baseball, football, track, marching band — that can be an alternative in less than ideal weather conditions," Hart said. "We surveyed our head coaches, what their needs were, what they were asking for, and increased usage during inclement weather is appealing."
The new field will have baseball configurations on it — bases sewn in — so the team can take infield practice during inclement periods. The field will have soccer configurations on it, as well, while also continuing to support marching band, physical education classes and graduation ceremonies.
The new surface is a monofiliment turf with a 3-layer infill. Current industry research says it's the longest-lasting and safest product on the sports market.
"We get a 10-year warranty, non-prorated," O'Laughlin said. "If something goes wrong in Year 9, we get a whole new field."
Who is doing the work?
Metamora accepted a bid for the project from a national company, Kansas-based Mammoth Built. The company's list of fields includes the Detroit Lions, The Ohio State University, University of Wisconsin and more in a long and stellar resume.
The project can't begin until after Metamora's graduation ceremonies on May 21. It's targeted for completion in time for the Redbirds fall football opener.
New field, new generation
"Malone Field has a rich history, a big part of our community," Hart said. "We have multiple years of kids and families performing on that field."
So the grass surface is no doubt sentimental to some among the 975 students and in the community. But in 2023, it doesn't seem as cost-effective, and turf will enable Metamora to join the party with rival schools that have upgraded.
"The fact we've had a grass field all these years I don't think it's better or worse or more wrong or not," Hart said. "There's always going to be people that will say we should stay with grass, just like there's people who will say we should have gone turf 10 years ago."
O'Laughlin praised the efforts of Metamora groundskeepers over the years — including longtime coach Curt Ryan, brother of the retired legendary Metamora football head coach Pat Ryan, now the director of high school relations at the University of Illinois.
And he says the old ball coach is on board as well.
"The love Curt Ryan had for natural grass here, he did go through all the stages of grief," said O'Laughlin, laughing. "He's behind it now. He's made the transition."
Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men's basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @icetimecleve.
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