The start of classes is approaching, and contractors are working quickly to complete new athletic fields at the Lawrence’s two public high schools.

School starts for all high school students on Aug. 13.

At Free State High School, the football, soccer and baseball fields are finished. Work has begun on a multi-use facility at the south end of the football field that will house locker rooms, restrooms and concessions. An anonymous donor will pay any costs exceeding $400,000 at that site.

“They’re really moving fast on that,” said facility planning division director Tom Bracciano.

But a second restroom facility at Free State and restrooms at Lawrence High School will probably not be done in time for the teams’ first home games.

Bracciano says the district will put two air-conditioned trailers with restroom facilities at Lawrence High for the first home game Sept. 4. One trailer may be needed for Free State.

At LHS, the soccer, baseball and tennis courts have yet to be finished. While baseball is a spring sport and there isn’t as much of a rush to complete it, other arrangements will have to be made for soccer and tennis players.

“(Soccer is) going to use Holcom for a while, and if they need to play games, they can use the football field,” Bracciano said.

Another large project at LHS involves adding about 300 parking spaces. The spots on the LHS campus will be done for the start of school, Bracciano said. Larger lots are being constructed near the annex building at 21st and Louisiana streets and nearby at the site of the former tennis courts. A narrow parking lot will connect those two lots, Bracciano said. That will bring the total number of spaces at LHS to about 900.

“It will be a third more spaces on site,” he said.