SLHS To Proceed With Synthetic Turf Fields

It looks as though South Lakes High School will break ground on artificial turf fields later this spring.

Fairfax County Parks Authority Board Chair Bill Bouie says the money is now in place for the project, which is expected to cost between $1.4 and $1.8 million. The partners are still working out several details, he said.

The fields are a partnership with several community organizations, including a  $175,000 grant from Fairfax County Neighborhood and Community Services; $1.1 million in bond money from the Fairfax County Park Authority;  $25,000 from Reston Youth Association (football); $30,000 from South Lakes High School discretionary funds; and $100,000 from Reston Community Center.

Bouie has previously said that developer proffer money was not available for this project.

South Lakes appeared to have everything organized for a late-May groundbreaking. However, there was some doubt as the late-March (later expanded to April 1) deadline approached that the project was going to come up short.

but apparently balked at that number when working out the memorandum of understanding to allocate field hours. Reston Soccer President Rick Uhrig said on Sunday that the board has now approved $150,000 for the project.

Meanwhile, the SLHS Athletic Boosters raised $23,000 in a recent fundrasing campaign and in order to make the fields a reality, said Boosters President Ron Parisi.

"We are very excited to have turf at SLHS for the community," he said.  "We're glad the fields are going to be constructed. For the Athletic Boosters, it's a good opportunity for us to show that we are about the whole community."

SLHS is planning for turf on two fields - the stadium field and a practice field with lights.

Most Fairfax County Public Schools either have recently built turf fields or are in line to get the county grants that will enable them to build turf fields. Turf fields result in more practice and game time for sports teams, who do not have to cancel due to soggy conditions.

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