School Field's summer renovation nearing completion

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Less than a month away from high school football season, several local stadiums are wrapping up renovations.

One of them is South Bend’s School Field – which has a new name as well.

It’s now called TCU School Field thanks to a recent partnership between Teachers Credit Union and South Bend Community School Corporation.

But the name is just one of many changes fans will see here on Week 1 of football season.

The most noticeable of course is the brand new turf field, which is just about complete. Crews are putting on some of the finishing touches this week, giving TCU School Field a new look to excite the fans of both South Bend’s Adams and Washington high schools on Friday nights.

But while giving it a new look, SBCSC athletic director Seabe Gavin said it’s important to celebrate the past as well.

“There’s such a rich history when it comes to School Field," he said. "I look at it as a way of preserving history, as a way of the community investing back into our student athletes. This is about more than football. This is about community.”

That community extends well beyond just the students and fans of Adams and Washington, though, and the field’s design is meant to reflect that.

The endzones simply read “South Bend” and are painted a neutral blue and white. The midfield logo features an interlocking “SB” in the same colors – a logo Gavin says all four city schools, including Clay and Riley, will include on uniforms to show community pride.

That is the focal point of the renovation.

SBCSC wants to make sure that the changes benefit the entire community through new partnerships and revenue and not just the two schools who play at TCU School Field.

It wants the renovation to help usher South Bend into a new era.

“It’s a revenue driver, but also brings outside entities and outside communities to show what South Bend is all about,” he said. “Bringing people together and bringing all our schools together. We have four high schools. We’re not four different corporations. We’re Team South Bend, so this is what it’s all about.”

The field turf is just one of several aspects of the renovation.

This offseason will see improvements to stadium lighting and the scoreboard, as well as new signage and a revamped press box. However, Gavin says there is more to be done.

“We have phases we’re going through. The most important was getting the field ready to go. … We’re doing everything we can within this first phase. Next year, we’ll do something different and the year after, we’ll do something different.”

The high school football season in Indiana begins on Aug. 17.