The city of Sedona in conjunction with the National Football League is applying a slight face-lift to the Posse Grounds Park patch of grass beyond the lower softball diamond outfield fence and turning it into a special place for young athletes to grow.

Construction began on June 1 on the field marked for football and soccer during the

past few years for American Youth Soccer Organization

clubs and Red Rock Youth Football games, and is scheduled to be completed Friday, July 31.

“This field renovation is a wonderful opportunity for our young and promising athletes here in Sedona to have a home field of their own,” Administrative Services Director for the city of Sedona Andi Welsh said.

For the field project, the NFL donated $25,000 and the city is pouring in some of its own money as well, to the tune of $25,839.53.

The $50,000-plus endeavor will elongate and widen the existing field to allow more room for football and soccer games this coming fall.

New bleachers, player benches, an electronic scoreboard, football and soccer goalposts are also being added.

The construction workers are also replacing all damaged sod on the multiuse field near the end zone areas.

As part of the irrigation system renovation, the project calls for a state-of-the-art on-site weather station and irrigation system controller which will accurately calculate the precise amount of water needed on a daily basis to keep the field looking good.

This controller will be interfaced with all the athletic fields at Posse Grounds Park and also Sunset Park to maximize water use efficiency and conservation.

“I can’t wait to see it when it is done. I think our athletes will be excited to have a newly built field they can call home, and this will hopefully help take our program to the next level,” Red Rock Youth Football President Scott Gilbert said.

The city is also spending $187,242.36 to completely renovate the restroom and recreation room at Posse Grounds Park.

Along with an operational drinking fountain, the renovation will include turning the old restrooms into storage for the recreation room and adding storage for key stakeholders and users of the park facilities.

The project will add windows to the recreation room providing additional ventilation and natural light while wall mirrors for recreational programming use will be installed in the recreation room as well.

Electrical access will be created for the new multiuse field scoreboard as well, making it easy for those who have to operate it to keep things running smoothly.

“Although the field may be closed to the public for two months to allow the new sod to take hold on the field before our heavy late summer usage, we are excited about the positive improvements we are making to the park and will hopefully enhance the users’ experience dramatically,” Welsh said.

Brian Bergner Jr. can be reached at 282-7795, ext. 131, or e-mail bbergner@larsonnewspapers.com