North Mankato breaks ground on Caswell Soccer Complex upgrades

A groundbreaking ceremony was held Thursday at the Caswell North soccer complex as North Mankato prepares to renovate the facility.

Public Works Director Nate Host said the current championship field will be excavated and replaced with approximately 90,000 square feet of artificial turf as part of the $1.8 million in upgrades.

The final product will consist of two championship-sized fields and four youth fields.

Host also said all of the lighting at the soccer complex will be upgraded to LED, resulting in twice as much light on the fields as there is currently.

A new bleacher press box system will be placed on the west side of the turf as well.

City leaders call the upgrades “exciting,” while Mankato United’s Sam Barbosa said the improvements would be a huge help Mankato’s soccer program.  “Soccer truly is a beautiful game, said Barbosa. “We have over 1,000 youth in Mankato that are playing soccer with us this summer, and obviously we wish to grow that even further.”

The upgrades are expected to be completed by September.