Streator agrees to soccer plan at James Street complex

Streator City Council member David Reed and resident Kevin Dean said when James Street Recreation Complex was in its development stages in the late 1990s, they, along with the Streator Youth Soccer League, wanted soccer fields built there.

More than a decade later, their request has come full circle as the Streator City Council approved Friday a 10-year agreement with the Streator High School District to convert unused football and baseball fields into the high school’s new soccer facility.

The Streator High School Board scheduled a special meeting at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 5, at the high school’s library, 202 W. Lincoln Ave. to sign off on the agreement, which is expected to pass.

Reed said he pled to the council in the late 1990s to put soccer fields into the plans for the complex, but the city moved forward with four baseball fields, a football field and walking path.

“I’m very happy to vote on this [Friday] to get soccer fields out there,” Reed said.

City Manager David Plyman said Friday the three smaller baseball fields utilized for T-ball and by the girls softball league still will be utilized by those programs during their respective seasons. The agreement with the high school also has no effect on the dog park.

Plyman said the high school will have exclusive use of the football field and the large baseball field at no fee. 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 district will utilize $63,000 to support improvements for the fields via a Community Partnership Grant with the Illinois State Board of Education. The district also will mow and maintain the fields.

About a dozen residents attended Friday’s meeting, including Dean, in support of the reuse of the James Street complex, applauding when the City Council approved the agreement unanimously. The City Council had hoped to approve the agreement at Tuesday’s meeting in front of about a dozen members of the soccer community, but rescheduled to Friday to review the terms of the agreement.

“[The Streator Youth Soccer League] begged the city to put in a soccer complex at James Street, and seeing what it is now, it would have gotten a lot more use,” Dean said.

He added: “This is a big step in the right direction for our soccer culture and our community as a whole.”

While the goal will be to play games on at James Street in the fall, Streator High School Athletic Director Nick McGurk said the high school has to ensure the fields are in safe condition first, which will take some work, including getting new grass to grow.

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.

Soccer referee and Streator resident Doug Huey attended Friday’s meeting, telling the council Streator High School’s facilities are on the lower grade of playing surfaces. He said the district will be able to improve its playing conditions if the soccer program has its own facilities. Without proper lighting at its current facilities, junior varsity games often are cut short by darkness, Huey said.

Plyman said the city agreed to install a gate preventing public access to where the football field now is located and to install some new lighting, which will require use of a contractor. He said the high school district will be responsible for the irrigation system. The system is set up to water baseball fields and has some issues, it will need some reconfiguration and maintenance.

The city of Streator still owes about $900,000 for what it borrowed to build the complex, along with improvements made to Anderson Fields Golf Course. Plyman said the city is expected to pay off the loan in 2028-29.