O'Fallon Family Sports Park Scores Big
The O'Fallon Family Sports Park scored big over the summer with seven new soccer fields in less than 90 days while saving $1 million on the project. The fields were installed and match-ready by Aug. 31, just in time for the fall season.
The seven new fields bring the park's total to eight, making it an attractive tournament venue for soccer, lacrosse, and more. Turning O’Fallon into a competition destination means more people to the area and increased spending at area hotels and restaurants.
City administrators could not be more pleased with how the project came together.
“We wanted to ensure taxpayer money on the sports complex renovations was spent wisely,” said Mary Jeanne Hutchison, director of O’Fallon Parks and Recreation in an article for Construction Forum STL.
To do so, the city worked with National Joint Powers Alliance (NJPA) to procure the products and services needed for the project. NJPA is a cooperative purchasing entity, partnering with education, government, and nonprofit entities to boost student and community success.
“NJPA gave us a complete package that had been thoroughly researched and priced,” Hutchinson said. “In the end, we got the product we wanted for the right price and were able to streamline the construction process to get all seven fields built in 89 calendar days.”
Hutchison said the process entailed going to NJPA's awarded contract database to find the right synthetic soccer turf and installation package.
“The quality of the turf is only going to be as good as the subsurface conditions,” Hutchinson said. “That requires a certified builder proficient in site preparation including amending soil conditions and improving drainage. All of that was built into our Shaw Sports Turf package.”
The new fields are part of renovations to the O'Fallon Family Sports Park that include new restrooms and parking lot upgrades/additions to accommodate 700 vehicles. The new fields were ready in August, playing host to team practices and league play as well as five tournaments this fall.
“The cooperative purchasing process allowed us no loss of field time,” Hutchinson said.
As budgets become tighter, public entities are turning to cooperative purchasing agreements to save costs and streamline construction.
O'Fallon turned to NJPA, who had already conducted the Request for Proposal (RFP) and thoroughly vetted vendors, their products and services.
Find what you need at njpa.co/vendor-list.
Read more about this project...
- O'Fallon, IL saves $1M on soccer fields, by constructforstl.org
- Cooperative purchasing – good for the buyer, good for the vendor, by Byrne & Jones Construction
- O'Fallon hopes $4.58 million artificial turf soccer fields will bring green into city coffers, by Belleville News-Democrat
Sourcewell (formerly National Joint Powers Alliance) is a self-supporting government organization, partnering with education, government, and nonprofits to boost student and community success. Created in 1978 as one of Minnesota's nine service cooperatives, we offer training and shared services to our central-Minnesota members. Throughout North America, we offer a cooperative purchasing program with over 200 awarded vendors on contract. Sourcewell is driven by service and the ability to strategically reinvest in member communities.