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By Mike AllenJune 2, 2024 (Santee) -- Residents of Santee, along with the rest of East County, will soon see two new refurbished turf fields at the city’s Town Center Community Park.
The two fields, just south of the Sportsplex USA ballfields, had the old turf removed in April, but are awaiting water tables to drain further so the new fields can be correctly installed, said Santee Community Services director Nicholas Chavez.
The project was “stopped due to soils (road base) pumping and rutting; water table is high due to recent large storms,” Chavez said in an email to questions posed by ECM. “(We’re) waiting for water table to lower. Synthetic turf fields are close in proximity to the San Diego River.”
He gave no estimate on the completion date, but it can’t come soon enough for many regular users of the fields, including the Santee Aviators Youth Lacrosse.
“I can’t begin to express how grateful we are that those fields are being maintained,” said Steve Langfus, director of Santee Aviators. “People from all over the county have been coming here because those fields are so nice.”
But in recent years the turf fields were not so nice, and holes in certain areas made playing on them risky, Langfus noted. “It was in horrible shape (in recent years). It was a hazard… I’ve seen some players trip and fall, but fortunately there were no injuries.”
The turf at the fields was first installed in 2010, and after 14 years, the city decided to make the necessary budget allocations to purchase the new synthetic turf. The total cost is about $1 million. The expected life of the new turf is nine to 12 years, Chavez said.
In addition to the new synthetic turf and padding, the project includes new, improved cool play infill that will help keep the field temperatures down, according to a city press statement. The fields will have permanent lines for soccer, football, mini-soccer and lacrosse.
The City Council approved the contract for the turf replacement with FieldTurf USA in March, using a variety of funding sources. That included a $100,000 grant from San Diego County’s Neighborhood Reinvestment Program, and $31,000 in donations from the nonprofit groups that mostly use the fields.
The four core users of the fields are American Youth Soccer Chapter 341, Santee Ravens Pop Warner Football and Cheer, My NFL Flag Football East County, and the Santee Aviators. The groups pay fees to the city for reserved use, but when the fields aren’t reserved, they are open to anyone on a first-come, first-served basis, Chavez said.
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