The Lincoln Sports Foundation will install artificial turf on the main field at its Sports Complex near 70th Street and Arbor Road in northeast Lincoln.
The foundation Tuesday announced the anonymous gift to make improvements to what was the longtime home of the Nebraska women's soccer team. The organization said Nemaha Sports Construction will do the installation, which should be completed sometime in July.
The foundation said a major goal of the project is to ensure an artificial turf field is available for youth athletes in lower socioeconomic groups who might not otherwise have access to such a facility. The field is used for soccer, football and lacrosse.
“This gift is a game-changing gift that helps us to upgrade our facilities immediately," Dan Lesoing, president of the Lincoln Sports Foundation board, said in a news release. "We are grateful for the generosity of this donor and their vision to make the championship field at LSF somewhere very special for our youth athletes. We are also thankful for Nemaha Sports Construction to be a partner on this project."
The foundation said it also hopes to make other upgrades to the championship field through the Shovel Ready Capital Recovery & Investment Act, a state law that provides funding to projects using federal COVID-19 relief funds.
Along with the addition of FieldTurf, the foundation's other plans for the championship field include updating stadium lighting, replacing the scoreboard and adding a video board, remodeling the concessions area and restrooms, and installing a new press box and adding a storage shed.
The foundation received a previous anonymous donation of $650,000 in 2019 that helped it make upgrades to its indoor fieldhouse, which has volleyball and basketball courts and a turf field.