Repairs underway at Creve Coeur Soccer Complex

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) - Repairs have started at a local soccer field that suffered millions of dollars worth of damage from tornados in March.

Contractors began work at the Creve Coeur Soccer Complex last week, replacing artificial turf ruined by the March 14 tornado, which dealt more than $8 million in damages to the facility.

Mike Hayes, director of the complex, said crews are currently removing the damaged turf and underlying materials.

“They’re removing all the rubber pellets from the turf that give it its compression,” Hayes said, adding that repairs will take about 14 days for the main field and roughly 30 days for four others.

Hayes said that each field contains more than 300 thousand pounds of rubber pellets, which currently sit in dozens of large bags lined up in the complex parking lot.

Hayes said he hopes to complete the work before the start of major tournaments coming to the complex in the summer, attract thousands of visitors and generate an estimated $10 million in local economic impact.

“The immediate push is to get 5 fields done by the middle of June,” Hayes said.

Many visiting families stay in properties owned by Lodging Hospitality Management, which include the nearby Westport Plaza.

Todd Hotaling, LHM’s vice-president of sales, said youth soccer s for around one million dollars of the company’s annual revenue.

“We love having those guys in town. They bring in people from all over the country,” Hotaling said. “We have big tournaments coming up this summer. really big tournaments that impact our hotels and restaurants in the area,” he said.

Local soccer clubs such as J.B. Marine have also been forced to find alternative practice fields while repairs are underway. “It’ll be good to get back to some normalcy,” said Matt Gober, a board member for the club.

Gober said that that finding available fields has been a challenge. “Even though there’s a lot of venues around those are ed for, so when you pick up the phone to call in favors to see what’s out there, it’s tough,” he said.

The county is also considering upgrading damaged stadium lights to LED systems during the restoration process. Last week, a county council member requested $1.5 million from the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission to assist with the repairs.

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