SHEBOYGAN, WI (WHBL) - Changes are being made to the plans for replacing certain athletic fields from Field of Dreams North.
After the City of Sheboygan approved a zoning change for Aurora so it can build a new outpatient surgery and medical office building on land west of Taylor Drive, currently known as Field of Dreams North, the Sheboygan Area School District has been working on replacing the athletic fields.
While most soccer fields will be built at the new Butzen property on the city's south side, a few fields will be built just across Taylor Drive where a community garden once way.
Superintendent Joe Sheehan tells WHBL News the first plan submitted to the DNR for its review resulted in a few concerns from the state agency regarding the impact on wetlands. They did make a request for a modification. "(It would) be much easier for us (the DNR) to approve it if you would get the impacted properly under 10-thousand square feet; and that’s what we did."
This week, the change was made public. It will result in one of two soccer fields being shrunk by 30 yards so that some wetlands can be preserved. There will still be two new baseball fields built, with one having lights, plus parking, a playground, a concession stand and restrooms.
To ensure all fields from the current Field of Dreams North are replaced, one diamond at Roosevelt Park will also be renovated.
Sheehan says the public can learn more about the changes on Tuesday, July 14, with a special meeting at North High School starting at 6 p.m. "Here’s our timeline, here’s the changes that we’ve made, and any questions, because we want our community to have all the answers to the questions they may have," says Sheehan.
All costs will be covered by Aurora, which is spending around five million dollars towards all new fields to replace what they are taking away from the current Field of Dreams North land area.
As for a timeline, the school district expects to have the DNR permit process complete by the end of September. This means grading for the new fields will begin afterwards in the fall, seeding and growing for the fields will take place in 2016, and the fields should be ready for use by spring of 2017.