Former Belleville Township Stadium is going back to green turf. Who’s going to use it?

People weighed in from all over the country in 2012, when Lindenwood University replaced grass on the football field of its Belleville campus with maroon-and-gray-striped artificial turf.

Yahoo! Sports writer Graham Watson called it an “abomination to the game” and likened it to a “flattened-out barbershop pole.” Other pundits asked, “Is this the ugliest football field in America?”

Eleven years later, the field is going back to the traditional green.

New artificial turf is being installed by Southwestern Illinois College (SWIC), which manages the campus for the city of Belleville. They’re developing it into an education and training center known as the Southwestern Illinois Justice & Workforce Development Campus.

“Thank you, SWIC!” Belleville Mayor Patty Gregory wrote Wednesday in a personal Facebook post that included before-and-after photos of the football field, now striped with two shades of green.

Contractors are still working on the white logos and other lettering.

College and city officials envision the field being used for exercise and other activities of SWIC’s Southwestern Illinois Police Academy, one of several tenants on the campus; SWIC’s athletic program and Belleville Parks and Recreation. None has a football team.

The field also could be rented out to public and private schools, organizations and leagues for practices, tournaments and other activities related to football, soccer, lacrosse, field hockey or even marching band.

“I expect that we’re going to have a ton of people interested in using the facility,” said Dean Hardt, SIJWDC coordinator for the city.

SWIC is spending $543,000 on the new turf, according to Bob Tebbe, chief of enrollment development and institutional planning. He said the old turf showed signs of wear and tear that could have caused safety problems and increased maintenance costs.

Last year, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s 2022-23 budget included a special appropriation of $5.9 million for SWIC to start managing the campus, then called Belleville Educational Complex.

SWIC had requested a one-time grant of $2.4 million to get vacant buildings up to code and ready for tenants and $3.5 million for the first year of operations, State Rep. Jay Hoffman (D-Swansea) said at the time.

The governor’s 2023-24 budget funded SWIC’s management activities at the same level of $5.9 million.

“It will be up to the General Assembly, but I expect that will continue in future fiscal years as long as Southwestern Illinois College is managing the campus,” said Matt Perry, chief of staff for the Illinois Community College Board.

The campus at 2300 W. Main St. originated with Belleville Township High School in 1916. The football stadium was built during the Great Depression through President Franklin Roosevelt’s Works Project Administration recovery program.

In 2003, students on the campus, then known as Belleville West, moved to a new location on Frank Scott Parkway. Missouri-based Lindenwood University bought the property and operated a satellite campus for 17 years before closing it in 2020 and eventually selling it to the city for $3 million.

Lindenwood installed the maroon-and-gray-striped turf during a $2.3 million stadium renovation in 2012.

Lindenwood administrators embraced national publicity over the field colors, both positive and negative, characterizing it as a recruiting tool and noting that the new “branding” was popular among students and other young people if not the general public.

“Some will love it and some will hate it,” Athletic Director Scott Springer said at the time. “But, hopefully, everyone will talk about it.”

The football field was used by Lindenwood’s team, known as the Lynx, as well as Althoff Catholic High School in Belleville before the Althoff Crusaders got their own stadium in 2017.

Today, SWIC’s goal is to operate the campus as efficiently as possible while providing both academic services and community resources, according to Tebbe, the college administrator.

The new turf falls in the second category, he said, adding that athletics are important to the Belleville community.

Hardt expects the field’s lettering and other finishing work to be completed sometime next month. Officials also are looking at fencing improvements and possibly a new scoreboard.

“Our mindset institutionally is that if we’re going to do something, spend the time and make the commitment, we’re going to do it right,” Tebbe said.

Hardt noted that Lindenwood already had replaced the press box and some bleachers during the 2012 stadium renovation, so those are in good shape, apart from the need for a thorough cleaning.

Last year, the city entered into a five-year facility-use agreement with the Southwestern Illinois Jets Basketball Club, allowing it to use two gymnasiums on the campus for practices and games and rent it out to other organizations.

During the football stadium’s 2012 renovation, Belleville Historical Society arranged to save four pillars from its historic entrance gates, two for Belleville West and two for Belleville East, but East turned them down, according to society President Larry Betz. West used two as part of a more modern entrance to its current field.

“I tried to save the ticket booth, but they were 99% sure that, if it were moved, it would collapse,” Betz said.