Students Benefit From Turf Field Conversions

Springfield and Thurston High Schools received a major upgrade to student life and athletics for the 2024-25 school year with the completion of state-of-the-art artificial turf fields. Students, athletes, and community groups have been making full use of the new surfaces throughout the 2024–25 school year.

The transition to turf opened the door to year-round access for a wide variety of activities, including soccer, band, cheerleading, physical classes, and flag football. What was once a heavily football-dominated space is now a shared community hub. 

“We now run multiple varsity sports who get to play under the lights, benefiting soccer, lacrosse, and flag football,” said Kimberlee Pelster, Thurston High Principal. “There is wider collective ownership of the stadium; it’s no longer just the football field.”

From practice to physical education, students have more consistent, safer access to the stadium space. Baseball teams use the turf for practices, track athletes warm up on the turf for reduced impact on knees and joints, and lifetime fitness and fundamentals classes take full advantage of the flexible space. High school athletic directors note the turf fields are in daily use, often staying active until 9 p.m.  

The fields were built with a multi-layered system including a high-performance elastic safety layer (e-layer) known as a shock pad, a durable artificial turf surface, and silica sand and rubber infill. These design choices prioritize athlete safety while ensuring the fields can handle heavy use across multiple seasons. 

A majority of the turf construction occurred over the summer of 2024. The combined cost for the conversion of both athletic fields was about $4 million. The conversion also allowed maintenance crews to focus on other areas instead of caring for the old grass fields.