Turf fields at Shadle, Rogers should be ready by school year

The Highlanders and Pirates of Spokane will soon have home turf to defend.

Construction is underway to replace the once-grassy playfields at Shadle Park and Rogers high schools with all-weather turf, an initiative paid for through the voter-approved Spokane Public Schools bond and city parks levy passed in 2025.

Shadle will get a replaced field for soccer and football teams to practice on with LED lights, plus a new baseball infield and dugout. Rogers will get new turf infields on the school’s baseball and softball fields.

“As we stand here today, we are modernizing an all-weather field, so that we can go later into the night with practices with more teams and more kids, we can go deeper into the fall and continue using the space,” said Spokane Public Schools Superintendent Adam Swinyard.

School and parks dignitaries, alongside high schoolers, ceremoniously “broke ground” on the project at Shadle just before crews took to the dirt to continue their work. It’s expected to be finished before school starts this year, said Fianna Dickson, a spokesperson for the parks department.

A trio of Shadle soccer players said they were excited to get their cleats in the turf once it’s done. The team usually practices on grass when playing at school or heads to the Dwight Merkel Sports Complex to practice with turf, which is typically what they compete on. The ball moves a lot slower on grass, which is bumpier and longer than a plastic turf alternative, the girls said.

“If we get to practice on turf here, then we’ll be more ready to practice against other teams that also play on turf,” said junior Ayla Parker.

These fields are the first in the citywide initiative to establish at least one lighted rectangular turf playfield and turf infield in each of the district’s five high school boundaries. These are some of the 200-plus projects promised around the city to be funded by the $440 million “Together Spokane” property tax collection.