Polk County is looking to take some pressure off of heavily used grass fields at two athletic complexes on opposite sides of the county by covering them with artificial turf.
The County Commission approved contracts with Legacy Sports Construction LLC of Melbourne at the board’s Jan. 20 meeting in Bartow to install artificial turf at the 28-acre Poinciana Community Park on the county’s east side and the 60-acre Hunt Fountain Park in North Lakeland.
The cost of the Poinciana Park contract will be $2.84 million for three soccer fields and a cricket pitch. The contract specifies completion in 240 days.
The money will come from funds in the five-year Parks and Natural Resources Community Investment Program within the East Park Impact Fee District Fund.
At Hunt Fountain Park, the artificial turf fields will cost $2.51 million. The contract also specifies completion in 240 days.
The county budget contains funding in the five-year Parks and Natural Resources CIP within the General Capital Improvement Fund for Hunt Fountain.
Soccer fields and a cricket pitch to be resurfaced at Poinciana Park
Poinciana Community Park consists of a softball complex, basketball courts, dog park, soccer fields, walking trail and a cricket pitch.
Since the park opened in 2013, the area has seen dramatic growth in population with a corresponding high demand for use of the park’s facilities, particularly the three soccer (multipurpose) fields and the cricket pitch, which was added after the park was built due to the sport’s popularity in the area.
In 2024, the board approved a contract with Dewberry Engineers Inc. to design and permit the conversion of the three multipurpose fields, including the cricket pitch, to artificial turf.
Legacy Sports Construction was one of six contractors that bid on the work.
Growing demand for soccer fields Hunt Fountain Park
Hunt Fountain Park was constructed in the late 1970s, and the population growth in the area has created a high demand for use of its athletic fields, including a youth soccer league.
In 2024, the board approved a contract with Chastain Skillman Inc. to design and permit the conversion of the four multi-purpose fields to artificial turf.
This request was the result of the increase in soccer league participants, expanded soccer seasons and poor drainage in the soccer field area, which has contributed to the deterioration of the existing four natural turf soccer fields.
The increase in field usage made it difficult to maintain the proper field conditions for safe play.
Converting the fields to artificial turf helps with field maintenance, eliminates downtime for maintenance and turf recovery.
Separately, the county is moving ahead with plans for a new 30-acre park about a mile south of Hunt Fountain that’s intended to help relieve some pressure on Hunt Fountain’s fields.
That park, at Daughtery and Gib-Galloway roads, will include three multipurpose/soccer fields.
The commission approved a design and permitting contract in March 2025, and county planners unveiled the first phase of that park at a public meeting in December.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Soccer fields at two Polk County parks are getting artificial turf
Reporting by Paul Nutcher, Lakeland Ledger / The Ledger
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