Lexington High to debut new turf football field. Take a look
There will be a new look when the Lexington High football team plays its home opener Friday against North Augusta.
The Wildcats (1-0) will debut their new turf field in their matchup against the Yellow Jackets. Lexington is coming off a win last week over Gilbert on the road.
Final touches on the turf were finished Monday, and the Wildcats practiced on the field for the first time on Tuesday.
“It was exciting for our kids to finally get out on the turf. It added energy to our practice for sure,” Lexington coach Stewart Young said.
Lexington Athletic Director Dustin Curtis, a former Wildcat player and head coach, took a walk on the turf Sunday night with his wife and reflected on the changes to the field.
“This is where I used to practice on two fields side-by-side way back in the day before they moved it over here,” Curtis said. “Baseball coach (Brian) Hucks and Mark Grainger from Modern Turf did a great job maintaining it. And I do think it was one of the better surfaces in high school football.
“You hate to see (the grass field) go when it is nice weather, but I don’t hate to see it go when it isn’t nice weather and the one game you play on it ruins a lot of the money you sunk in it.”
Having turf will open things up for sports, especially during the spring, and lessen the wear and tear on the field. Boys and girls soccer and lacrosse also will play on the field. Lacrosse was previously played on the practice field behind the football stadium, with soccer using the football field.
The new-look field also will be able to host band competitions and youth football games.
“We gain a practice facility first and foremost,” Curtis said. “It is something you don’t think about until you spend tens of thousands of dollars maintaining grass. Having a place to come outside even when it is in poor conditions will also be beneficial so you don’t have to stay inside.“
Lexington 1 is the latest school to go to turf, joining schools in Richland 1 and Richland 2, Lexington 2, Lexington-Richland 5 and Hammond School in Columbia.
Lexington High is the second school in the district to get turf. River Bluff has had a turf field since the school opened in 2013 and resurfaced it for this season, a process that’s needed every 10 years or so. The rest of the high schools in the district will get turf soon, starting with White Knoll (2026) and then Gilbert (2027) and Pelion (2028).
Plans for the turf at the Lexington 1 fields were approved by the school board in the 2023-24 school year. According to SportsVenueCalculator.com, typical costs for turf fields are between $700,000 and $1.5 million depending on the size, the sport played on it and the quality of the turf being used.
The cost to turf Lexington High’s field was approximately $1.4 million, and updating River Bluff’s field was under $1 million, according to a district spokesperson.
The turf is the final renovation to the Wildcats’ $5 million stadium, which opened in 2008. Prior to the on-campus stadium, Lexington played its games at Wildcat Hollow on Ballpark Road, where the Lexington County Blowfish now play their baseball games.
In 2015, the stadium got a new LED scoreboard and press box, which includes a fully catered luxury suite for boosters, sponsors and district personnel on gamedays. It also has individual rooms for coaches, media and a production room to help run the new scoreboard.
The new turf field has end zones painted blue with gold “Lexington” in one end zone and “Wildcats” in the zone closest to the scoreboard. There is a big blue and gold Lexington Wildcats logo at midfield. Yard lines are outlined in blue, and there is a white Palmetto tree between the 25- and-30 yard line on the side closest to the scoreboard.
There are also field markers for soccer and lacrosse.
“From a branding standpoint and when you drive by or sit in the stands the L logo is always in the middle. The Wildcats are in the end zone. Aesthetically, having that whether it is a band competition or little league flag football event, that stuff matters,” Curtis said. “It is another way to connect with our community and make our campus as much Wildcat as we can.”
