City of North Mankato to spend $1.2 million on new artificial turf field at Caswell North Soccer Complex

NORTH MANKATO, Minn. (KEYC) - A $1.2 million project to install a new artificial turf field for the east practice field at the Caswell North Soccer Complex was approved by the North Mankato City Council on Tuesday, Feb. 17.

According to Brad Walsh, the city’s director of sports for the facility, the project is expected to be $600,000 less than the city’s $1.8 million additions to the park in 2021, which added new lighting and artificial turf to the park’s west practice field.

Walsh says the cheaper price is due to better soil quality, which will make the installation cheaper to perform.

In total, the project’s excavation will go 28 inches deep into the soil and the new turf will cover a surface area of 87,400 square feet.

Walsh says the turf will make it so the sports teams who use the facility will be less effected by melting snow, frozen soil or heavy rain, allowing them more time to practice throughout the year.

“Throughout the year there are over 100,000 visitors to Caswell North and we’re just trying to create that premier environment in southern Minnesota for our young athletes,” Walsh said.

The city says many programs use the field for practice and dozens of games throughout the year including youth soccer teams from Mankato United, and boys and girls soccer teams from local high schools.

With the new artificial turf, Walsh says that the field could be more accessible as a multipurpose sports venue that could accommodate football, lacrosse and other events as well.

Rustin Luedtke, a coach for the Women’s Premier Soccer Team, says the investment is exciting to see for the local soccer community.

“Growth for soccer overall is fantastic. I love the fact that the City of Mankato is making that investment and giving kids a better place to play and better experience and it will continue to bring people into the game,” Luedtke said.

The funding for the project is set to come from a pool of $21 million in bonding from local option sales tax, which the state has authorized the City of North Mankato to use until 2044.

The sales tax funding must be used on projects that have a regional benefit.

The city says it has previously used this funding for projects involving the development of local parks, lakeside improvements and the expansion of the North Mankato Taylor Library.

The city hopes to begin construction on the project on May 4 and is projected to have the new turf fully installed by Aug. 14.

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