City of Streator, high school close to soccer deal at James Street complex

The city of Streator and Streator High School are close to finalizing an agreement that will allow the high school to utilize James Street Recreation Complex for its boys and girls soccer programs.

Whether games are played there this fall, however, is up in the air, but officials remain optimistic, as long as a deal is finalized quickly.

City Manager David Plyman supplied the City Council with the final agreement hours before a special meeting Tuesday, prompting some council members to ask for a couple of days to review it. More than a dozen members of Streator’s soccer community and high school officials were in attendance Tuesday. The City Council set a special meeting for 5 p.m. Friday, June 30, at City Hall, 204 S. Bloomington St., to vote on its final approval.

Streator High School Superintendent Scott Cameron told the school board at its regular meeting Tuesday the 10-year agreement just awaits finalization and the district is in position to move forward with improvements to the complex once the City Council approves it, even if there are a couple items that still need to be worked out, such as the state of the irrigation system and/or lighting.

The high school district plans to invest about $120,000 over time into the complex, including a scoreboard, new fencing, seeding, fertilizing and resurfacing, among other investments. The high school district will utilize $63,000 to support improvements for the fields via a Community Partnership Grant with the Illinois State Board of Education.

While the goal will be to play games there this fall, Athletic Director Nick McGurk said the high school has to ensure the field is in safe condition first, which will take some work.

The football field and large baseball field have been inactive at James Street this summer, with the baseball field growing weeds in its infield dirt. The high school district approached the city in April, looking to move its soccer complex to James Street, in an effort to give its soccer program its own facilities, as well as take stress off the baseball and softball fields shared by the soccer programs. The Streator High School athletic facility is where the boys soccer team plays its season during the fall, while the girls soccer team plays at the Streator YMCA during the spring.

The three smaller baseball fields and dog park will remain utilized as they are now at James Street, Plyman said. The high school also has agreed to mow all the fields, with the exception of the dog park, he said.

Plyman said the city has not budgeted any improvements at James Street in regard to the agreement. He said the city still owes about $900,000 on funds it borrowed in 2006 and refinanced in 2017 for the construction of James Street and Anderson Fields Golf Course.

“We would be turning the park over as it is for the high school to do as it wishes,” Plyman said. “The park has been underutilized for years, which is one of the core reasons why we wanted to work with the school district.”

The school district is eager to get to work on the new facility, McGurk said.

“Give us five years, and with the team we have in place now, we’ll make it into something good for the community.”