Workers removed about 9,000 yards of dirt to level a 36-inch crown before Centennial's artificial turf was installed.

For nearly a quarter-century, an artificial turf football field seemed like a pipe dream for Centennial.

The project was on the agenda for the Centennial School District as early as 1999. On the wall of the athletic director's office hangs an artist's rendering of an artificial turf field from 2012.

But while almost all the other big schools in the state installed artificial turf, Centennial was left behind. Until now.

FieldTurf finished installing a new surface Saturday, part of a project that also will include a new track and upgrades to the stadium grandstand. The Eagles will play their first home football game on the field Sept. 14.

“It's beautiful,” athletic director Daunte Gouge said. “It's fun to hear the alums, 'Where was that years ago?', and stuff like that. This community deserves it. It's definitely a long time coming.”

The district paid for much of the project by selling property that was used for bus parking. Instead of maintaining that properly, where buses often were vandalized, the district found a way to meet a need.

“It's kind of the best of both worlds,” Gouge said. “Our district office just did a phenomenal job of planning. We're way better off than having a big, empty field that buses were parked in.”

Also, the district saved an estimated $260,000 by partnering with the Army National Guard for dirt removal, a connection that came about through boys soccer assistant coach Brandon Nava, a Centennial graduate and National Guard member. Workers moved into tents next to the field during the excavation.

“They lived at the facility for three weeks,” Gouge said.

To level the field's 36-inch crown, the National Guard removed about 9,000 yards of dirt, or 400 dump truck loads. The flatter surface will be a welcome improvement for athletes.

“We're getting comments from other schools like, 'You mean I don't have to run uphill anymore on the fly sweep?'” Gouge said. “And the quarterbacks don't have to throw downhill when they're throwing an out.”

During late-season rains, Centennial's field was one of the last remaining mud pits in Oregon big-school football.

“It was definitely a home-field advantage, but man, was it ugly,” Gouge said.

Construction began on the field May 12 and was completed on schedule. Work begins Monday on the new Beynon track, the same surface used at Hayward Field. It will be a two-tone track – blue and light blue – similar to the one at Lane Community College.

With the track upgrade, Centennial is hoping to breathe life into the Centennial Invitational track meet. The 57-year-old meet, once the state's premier invitational, has been overshadowed in recent years by the Nike Jesuit Twilight Relays and the Oregon Relays.

Gouge said Centennial is partnering with Adidas to raise the meet's profile. Next year's meet is scheduled for April 13 – a few weeks earlier than usual – to avoid conflicts with other high-profile invitationals.

“We're going to try to get the Centennial Invitational back to what it used to be,” Gouge said. “It's going to be a completely different meet. The brand new track is going to be top of the line.”

The field will be closed until completion of the track, targeted for Sept. 8. The boys soccer team is scheduled to play the first varsity game on the field against McDaniel on Sept. 13. The football team is set to play host to La Salle Prep on Sept. 14. The school will have a ceremony to celebrate the field during a Sept. 22 homecoming football game against Hillsboro.

Sports groups in the district are itching to use the field.

“It's a big-time soccer community, so we're going to start getting inundated with people that want to rent it,” Gouge said. “We're excited that we can share it with the community.”

In Phase 2 of the project, the district plans to install artificial turf on the varsity baseball and softball fields.

“Now we're excited to see the next phase,” Gouge said.