New turf: Cadillac gets major stadium upgrades

Aug. 12—CADILLAC — Cadillac is completing the circle of all Class A northern Lower Michigan schools having artificial turf fields, but that's hardly all that's going on at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

Cadillac Area Public Schools is completely revamping the stadium near Lake Cadillac.

"This stadium is one of the best in Michigan," first-year football head coach Nick Winkler said. "You've got the lake right outside the end zone. It's an excellent time to be a Viking."

If the field isn't ready by Aug. 24, Cadillac Athletic Director Fred Bryant said they've made arrangements to move the season-opening game to Midland.

Bryant said the $1.2 million project is a combination of money from a school bond, fundraising and donations. Planning started prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, and some costs of materials rose significantly since then, he said.

But the results look great so far.

The overhauled stadium will now feature a large column-lined entrance with an archway off the high school parking lot.

The project allows the Vikings to host soccer games on the field, possibly landing MHSAA postseason assignments. The revamped track surrounding the artificial-surface football field is already slated to host the Big North Conference track finals in 2024 and regionals in the near future.

"This will be great for us because, as an administrator, it won't be off-site," Bryant said of hosting soccer games at the school. "It'll be contained."

Some new features of the new Veterans Memorial Stadium include remodeled team rooms, a new public address system, Americans with Disabilities Act upgrades, new LED lighting on steel posts, new bathrooms, play clocks on both ends of the field, side walls all the way around, new aluminum bleachers on the home side and a brand new roof on the press box.

The old wooden home bleachers were replaced with concrete and then resealed. The guest bleachers remain the same and are only several years old. Combined, the capacity is 3,500, not counting ample standing room.

"We went to a bunch of facilities and saw what worked and what didn't," Bryant said.

Seven large pillars by the entryway and 11 smaller ones around the stadium will each have sponsors dubbed "pillars of the community." The open common area near the entrance has room for food trucks on game days, just inside the archway emblazoned with the stadium name.

"I've only driven by it, but it looks sweet," senior quarterback Charlie Howell said. "The entrance is so grand. Before, it was just going in through a fence."

The project also includes improving the veterans memorial in the north end zone, which hadn't been updated since the Korean War.

The memorial nameplates will have those who perished in the line of duty in the Vietnam War and later added to it.

The stadium gets a new 6-by-14-foot video scoreboard to replace the old one, upgrading the technology, and the football uprights have a mechanism to secure a soccer goal to it for added stability.

The Astroturf 3D3 surface has a sand base underneath. The surrounding track has eight layers of rubber and latex, two more than the typical six.

The Viking track team hasn't hosted a meet or been able to practice there in two seasons because of ongoing construction.

"It's definitely been a unique experience to give our community the best facility," Bryant said.

Sault Ste. Marie, Marquette and Escanaba are now officially in the Big North Conference for football, joining Cadillac, Gaylord, Petoskey and Alpena after Traverse City Central and Traverse City West left last year for the Saginaw Valley League.

Bryant said he sought and received assurances the Vikings wouldn't have to travel to both Marquette and Escanaba in the same regular season.

Cadillac's size is increasing, and the Vikings move up to Division 1 in volleyball and basketball this year, with enrollment expected to surpass 1,000 in the near future.

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