Field turf part of potential renovations to Northwestern's Rogers Field

Field turf is long past being a novelty for high school athletic facilities.

The Union City, Girard and Northwestern football teams are the only ones left in Erie County that will host games on natural grass for their 2025 seasons.

That list will further wither if Sam Ring has his way.

Ring is president for the Northwestern School District's board of directors. He said its current members are amid serious discussions not only regarding the installation of field turf at Rogers Field, but an overall of that on-campus complex in Albion.

"Our facility is done," Ring said. "We already know we have to replace the (stadium's) lights and the seats, so the question now is how much more can we do?"

Northwestern's marching band performs during halftime of an undated football game at Rogers Field in Albion. The school district's board of directors currently plan an April 21 vote on major renovations to the facility, which include the installation of field turf.

The board originally sought to answer that question and others in time for this month's official meeting, which is Tuesday.

While that won't happen, it could by April 21 according to Ring. That's when the board currently plans to vote yes or no on the issue.

"I can't give you any particulars because even we don't know what they are yet," Ring said. "We have about $4 million right now that we can put towards the project, but it's (going to cost) $8 to 12 million depending on how much we do.

"We need (to know) how much of an appetite we have for debt. The community is going to want to know how much their taxes are going to go up, and that's fair."

New coach for new turf?

Renderings of what a revamped Rogers Field could look like are available at nwsd.org, the school district's website.

Ben Fenell, Northwestern

If the project gets the green light next month, Ring said groundbreaking would occur around this time next year. Such a vote also would mean Northwestern's home games for its upcoming football season would be the last ones in the stadium's current state.

Field turf or not, this fall will be the Wildcats' first with alumnus Ben Fenell as head coach. The 2003 graduate was hired during last month's board meeting.

Contact Mike Copper at mcopper@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNcopper.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Northwestern could be next Erie County high school to get field turf

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