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Council gives staff go-ahead to apply for $500,000 Sprint Turf grant to enhance North Casper athletic complex
Summary
City staff said they will apply for a private Sprint Turf grant worth up to $500,000 to install synthetic turf at the Field of Dreams within the North Casper Athletic Complex, using a previously awarded Wyoming Outdoor Recreation (WARD) grant as the match; council gave staff informal approval to apply.
Nick Wicks, recreation manager for the City of Casper, told councilors the Sprint Turf grant program offers a private award of up to $500,000 for youth-serving athletic improvements and that staff recommends applying to add synthetic turf at the Field of Dreams complex as part of the larger North Casper project.
Wicks and Zalima (staff) explained the Sprint Turf funding would be used alongside a previously awarded Wyoming Outdoor Recreation (WARD) grant. Zalima said the city’s WARD award totals $2.8 million and is already advancing design and consultant selection for a roughly $3.2 million North Casper Improvement Project; Sprint Turf’s $500,000 would be added to that package to cover synthetic turf installation for flexible multi-use infields at Field of Dreams.
“The nice thing is because this is a private grant through Sprint Turf, the Wyoming Outdoor [Recreation] Grant can be used as match and vice versa,” Zalima said. Staff said no city general fund money would be required if the Sprint Turf grant is awarded and the council supports application and partnership.
Councilors asked about lifecycle, maintenance and long-term replacement costs for synthetic turf. Recreation and parks staff said synthetic fields typically carry warranties around eight years, that the initial installation requires a new base but future replacements would cost less because the base and subgrade would already be in place, and that turf reduces seasonal maintenance, irrigation and field-prep costs while increasing usable days and tournament potential. “We can save cost on seasonal staff ... not prepping the fields, or we can turn them over faster,” a parks staff member said.
Councilors also asked how the Sprint Turf program interacts with WARD and other grant opportunities. Staff said the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy-style national program does not apply here; rather, the WARD award was a one-time state program funded from ARPA that the city secured late in 2024, and Sprint Turf is a private-company grant that typically supports equipment or surfacing rather than construction of large infrastructure.
Mayor and council gave staff direction to apply for the Sprint Turf grant and to include the synthetic-turf option in the North Casper project design; no formal vote or city funding commitment was recorded during the meeting. Staff said a formal evaluation of long-term replacement costs would be included in the capital/maintenance planning if the grant is awarded.
