Northeast and Southeast high schools will get new artificial turf for their practice fields sometime this fall.
The Lincoln Board of Education on Tuesday approved a $1.4 million bid from Nemaha Landscape Construction in Lincoln to put artificial turf on the schools’ fields, part of the plans for new district athletic complexes at the high schools.
Voters approved a $290 million bond issue in February that will, in part, build two new high schools, one in northwest Lincoln and the other in southeast Lincoln.
As part of those plans, the district wants to build a shared competition site for football, baseball and track on the site of the northwest high school, north of I-80 on the south end of Air Park; and soccer, softball and tennis on the southeast site near 70th Street and Saltillo Road.
To appease those concerned about equity — making sure all schools have the same amenities — LPS officials will put all-weather artificial turf on practice fields at existing high schools. Lincoln High’s Beechner Athletic Complex already has artificial turf because it’s a secondary site for city football games.
The district earmarked about $3 million from depreciation funds — money saved to replace and repair existing artificial turf at Seacrest Field and Beechner — for the turf projects and $10 million of bond money to put toward the new athletic complexes. The remainder of the $24.7 million price tag (including $8.4 million for the turf) will come from private funds.
LPS Operations Director Scott Wieskamp said the $1.4 million for the Northeast and Southeast projects will come from depreciation funds. Savings on the bond projects could mean there will be more of the bond money that can go to the new athletic complexes and turf projects, he said.