Work is underway that will bring Nelson Field, UW-Stout’s oldest recreational facility, into the modern era.
The field has been stripped of its sod in preparation for laying artificial turf, Spinturf. The project includes new LED lighting between the west side of the field and the adjacent track and a new press box. It is expected to be finished by mid-November.
The field is home to the Blue Devil women’s soccer team. As a result of the project that began in late August, the team is playing most of its games on the road this season, with four at Menomonie High School.
The decision to install artificial turf was based on two main factors, improving the playing surface for the soccer team and providing more accessibility for other users, such as club, recreation and intramural activities.
Located at the base of a hill, the field didn’t drain well.
“When we got rain, nobody could use the field. We had a serious lack of grass,” said Duey Naatz, athletics director. “This will take our ability to use that field to a 24-7 operation.”
Naatz and Associate Director Erin Sullivan have been working on the plan for several years.
The field still had a crown — already bulldozed away — going back to its days as the main Blue Devil football field. Soccer fields, ideally, are flat. “It wasn’t very conducive to soccer,” Naatz said.
The football team moved to Williams Stadium, also with artificial turf, when it opened in 2001.
Nelson Field also was slightly smaller than a regulation soccer field, Naatz said. The new turf field will be slightly wider and longer to meet NCAA specifications.
In the past few years, artificial turf has been installed for the women’s soccer teams at UW-River Falls and UW-La Crosse, who are part of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with UW-Stout.
“Everybody is moving this way because of the number of people who can use the field,” Naatz said. “The amount of availability just multiplies.
“This is something the students have identified as a need for many years. It’s going to be awesome,” Naatz said.
McCabe Construction of Eau Claire is the contractor for the approximately $2.1 million project.
Nelson Field history
Nelson Field was dedicated during homecoming on Oct. 2, 1935, with its namesake, school President Burton E. Nelson in attendance.
Nelson pushed to buy 10 acres of land in 1933 that was several blocks south of the existing campus. The land became the university’s first athletic complex, including the football field, practice football field, baseball field, tennis courts and a running track.
The project cost about $15,000, according to the book “An Idea Comes of Age: UW-Stout, 1891-2016.” The Civil Works Administration, a federal job-creation program during the Great Depression, filled and landscaped the marshy area.
Lights were added to the field in 1947, and the Blue Devils played their first night home football game Oct. 4, 1947.
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Photo
A UW-Stout soccer player, in white, works against an opponent during a 2017 game at Nelson Field. The field is being updated this fall, including the installation of artificial turf.
Duey Naatz
