Grand opening set for McMillen Field
Antioch High plans daylong sports, music
ANTIOCH -- After years of planning and construction, softball, soccer and field hockey teams at Antioch Community High School have a place to call home at the new McMillen Field outdoor sports complex.
McMillen covers 12 acres northeast of the football field off of McMillen Road. It includes 12 tennis courts, three softball fields, a competition soccer field, a competition field hockey field and three soccer practice fields.
A grand opening is planned May 31 that will feature a day of sports clinics, tournaments, children's activities and live music.
"It's a symbol that these fields are open," said Antioch Principal Michael Nekritz. "I'm hoping we have 3,000 to 4,000 people."
He would like the event dubbed "Sequoit Summer" become an annual family affair.
It will begin 9 a.m. with a 5K run. The three divisions will include children 12 and under, high school students and adults.
All day there will be tournaments in divisions for adults and students in slow-pitch softball, 7-on-7 flag football, 5-on-5 field hockey, basketball and 3-on-3 volleyball.
Additionally, there will be children's clinics in soccer, dance, tennis and golf and a basketball free-throw contest. Some events require pre-registration and a small fee, while others are free.
Entertainment will include performances by a folk rock group, The August; a blues band, Voodoo Cadillac; and country music artist Jamie Buckley. The U.S. Army Entertainment Team will also provide a rock-climbing wall, inflatable tunnel, football toss and dog tag machine.
The school's Math Team will sell brats and burgers to raise money to buy graphing calculators.
McMillen was built on the site of a former landfill that was used for industrial and municipal waste disposal from the early 1960s through the early 1980s. That 121-acre site was placed on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund National Priorities List in 1990 because of the solvents, heavy metals and hydraulic fluids that were disposed there. In July 2002, the EPA awarded a Superfund Redevelopment Initiative Program grant to promote redevelopment of the site.
The district saw the rehabilitated landfill and associated wetlands as potential amenities for the high school. The tennis courts were completed first and were used for the 2005 conference championships. The other fields were completed this spring.
"We spent a good number of years upgrading it," Nekritz said. "In the end, our kids will have access to great facilities."
Additionally, methane gas produced by the landfill supplies heat and electricity to the school. The school district estimates a savings of $100,000 per year by reducing energy costs and selling the electricity generated during nights and weekends to ComEd.
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For a schedule of grand-opening activities at McMillen Field on May 31, go to sequoits.com