Local

Field turf, other improvements set for West Branch’s Clinton Heacock Stadium

By Mike Brown
Excavation of the former grass playing surface, pictured above, is underway at West Branch High School’s 5,200-seat Clinton Heacock Stadium. A new artificial surface playing field will be installed this summer, as well as new MUSCO LED lights and other improvements.
Excavation of the former grass playing surface, pictured above, is underway at West Branch High School’s 5,200-seat Clinton Heacock Stadium. A new artificial surface playing field will be installed this summer, as well as new MUSCO LED lights and other improvements. Mike Brown

BELOIT - Field turf and other additions are planned this summer for West Branch High School’s 5,200-seat Clinton Heacock Stadium.

The stadium, which opened in 1971, will have a new artificial turf football field, which can also be used for soccer, if it so chooses, as well as for baseball and softball practices in the spring.

New goal posts and high-tech LED lights will also be installed before the start of the 2025 football season.

The new artificial playing surface will have a large “WB” in green and white colors at the 50-yard line, similar to the outline in the West Branch basketball fieldhouse, and the end zones will be black with a green and white outlined “West Branch” in one end zone and “Warriors” in the opposite end zone.

In addition, a new weight room with classroom/office space is planned to be added to the back of the West Branch Fieldhouse.

Funds for the project are coming from individual donors and no district tax funds are being used.

West Branch will play the first football game on its new field turf when the Warriors host the New Philadelphia Quakers in Week II of the regular season on Friday, August 29 at 7 p.m.

The stadium is named for the late Clinton Heacock, the first superintendent of West Branch Local Schools who was a tremendous supporter of West Branch athletics.

Additionally, the all-weather track will be updated during a future phase of the project, as well as expansion of the Meiter Athletic Building.