photo by: Bremen Keasey

One of the new turf fields at Lawrence's Youth Sports Complex, 4911 W. 27th St. The city announced it will hold a ribbon cutting ceremony Friday, Sept. 19 to celebrate the upgrades to the complex.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony for new multipurpose sports fields at the Youth Sports Complex, 4911 W. 27th St., is scheduled next week, the City of Lawrence announced on Thursday.

The Youth Sports Complex has undergone a $3.6 million renovation project to transform nine youth soccer fields into three full-sized, lighted multipurpose fields. A news release from the city on Thursday said two of the fields are turf and one is natural grass, and the fields can be configured for a variety of sports, including adult soccer, youth soccer, football, youth flag football, lacrosse and ultimate frisbee. Along with the new fields, the upgrades included an outdoor lighting system, expanded parking, new sidewalks and landscaping improvements.

The City Commission approved the upgrades to the fields in February, as the Journal-World reported. At the time, Mark Hecker, an assistant director with the Parks, Recreation and Culture department, said the upgrades would mean fewer weather-related cancellations and would allow the fields to be used later into the evenings.

The release said the turf fields would be available for reservations starting Saturday, Sept. 20, while the natural grass field was expected to be available by late spring 2026.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony will be on Friday, Sept. 19, at 4 p.m., the release said.