Auburn slates ceremony to kick off Ingersoll work

AUBURN — The city will kick off work to reuse Ingersoll Arena as an indoor turf field April 24 with a special ceremony.

Auburn Recreation Director Ravi Sharma said installing an artificial turf field should wrap up in October, with the facility ready for games.

“We have a lot of positive feedback so far, and quite a few have expressed some interest in being there,” Sharma said.

Auburn began operating its dual-surface facility, the Norway Savings Bank Ice Arena, in 2013 as a replacement for the Ingersoll Arena. Since then, the city has been considering ways to reuse the building.

The city hired Cordjia Capital Projects Group to do a business and marketing survey of groups that might be interested in using the building. It also convened a Recreation and Special Events Advisory Board to review the study, and that group favored converting it to an indoor turf facility.

The low bid, submitted by Freeport-based Doten’s Construction, was $519,572.

When work wraps up, the facility will feature approximately 20,000 square feet of artificial turf, along with upgraded LED lighting, two batting cages, new restrooms and a heating system.

Sharma said it’s too soon to begin scheduling events, but there have been some discussions.

“We have not gotten into programming into a great detail,” Sharma said, “but there will be an opportunity for everyone to use it and get in there.”

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