Crews were hard at work Monday replacing the field turf at Jeff Prusator Athletic Complex Stadium at Mendota High School, with the $1.4 million project expected to wrap up by next week. The new surface includes a freshly stitched Trojan logo at midfield, giving the stadium a signature new look as installation nears its final stretch.
The overhaul was first detailed back in August, when Shaw Local reported that Mendota Township High School planned to replace the stadium's field turf and resurface its track. That report noted the existing synthetic turf dated back to 2011, meaning the surface had logged roughly a decade and a half of wear before crews moved in to tear it out and start fresh.
District 280 funded the stadium upgrades locally, with some of the cost covered by revenue from reserved parking ticket sales, according to the same report. Athletic Director Chance Blumhorst said the new turf would give athletes better footing and more padding while eliminating the divots and tears that had crept into the aging surface over the years.
From August Timeline to November Finish
The project was originally expected to run from Aug. 3 through Aug. 22, per the station's report. By Monday, crews were still working to replace the turf, and the completion date had shifted to the following week — still framed as an expectation rather than a confirmed finish.
While the stadium surface has been out of commission, the marching band and the football and soccer teams have used the complex's grass practice field and Donier Field, the station noted. District officials, meanwhile, said on the Mendota High School website that the stadium and its parking lot would be temporarily closed while the Field Turf was being replaced, with reopening anticipated once installation and final safety inspections were complete.
Bigger Price Tags Discussed Earlier
The $1.4 million figure tracks with cost estimates that have circulated since at least August, but it followed earlier discussions of a wider range of options for the broader facilities project. According to Citizen Portal, Opterra presented the Mendota Twp HSD 280 Building and Grounds Committee with two guaranteed-maximum-price options covering football turf, track and tennis-court work — one priced at $1,230,530 for turf and track work alone, and a second at $2,737,878 that also folded in tennis-court replacement. The committee requested follow-up technical clarifications at the time and made no immediate recommendation to the full board, the same report said.
A separate board-project update described the district seeking additional vendor bids on tennis courts, track, roof work and masonry, with stage curtains estimated to be fireproofed at a cost of $31,000, Citizen Portal reported. For now, the most visible progress remains at the stadium itself, where the new turf and its center-field Trojan emblem are taking shape ahead of the anticipated reopening.
