ALTON - The City of Alton staff is making good use of the public shutdown order from the coronavirus to accomplish some needed improvements.

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The most recent improvement work is at Gordon Moore Park is huge with fields three and four. Alton Mayor Brant Walker said the grading has been done and now phase one of the athletic fields work will begin. Phase 1 of the project at Gordon Moore Park will consist of two new turf surfaces to be installed on fields three and four. Field three is a combination soccer and football multi-use field to support our local youth programs and field four is a tournament size soccer field on which we can hold IHSA-sanctioned play.

"You will see a lot of infrastructure work in the city in the coming days," Walker said. “This is an exciting addition to the enhancement of one of the area’s premier sports parks and will make the park much more appealing to tournament organizers as well as bring more people into our region. It’s also great that our children do not have to travel to other communities to have the opportunity to play on state-of-the-art playing surfaces."

“This is part of the overall park restoration project in which public works and parks partnered with the Gordon Moore Park Restoration Committee to raise funds for new concession and all-inclusive playground area,” said Robert Barnhart, Public Works Director.

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The work is intended to occur simultaneously with the CMAQ Grant for which the city will receive $900,000 for widening and improving the entrance to the park and related work. The fields should be completed in time for the fall sports season, weather permitting.

“The artificial turf enables us to save on field maintenance expenses and many man-hours that would be spent treating, mowing, and painting fields. Field playability will no longer be a concern for high-level soccer and football and our recreation programs and tournaments will experience fewer cancellations,” said Michael Haynes, Director of Park and Recreation.

“Sports Marketing is becoming an even more important niche of our tourism economy here in the Alton region,” said Brett Stawar, President of the Great Rivers & Routes Tourism Bureau. Gordon Moore Park is ready for its next chapter in helping deliver a touch down for our economy and community.

The cost savings related to turf field versus natural grass will be approximately $55,000 annually and will save numerous hours in labor. With that being said, the cost savings can be reallocated for additional construction and upgrades at our other city parks.

Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.

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