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 August 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 coming 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,” says Mary Jeanne Hutchison, director of O’Fallon Parks and Recreation in an article for Construction Forum STL.

To do so, the city worked with the National Joint Powers Alliance (NJPA) to procure the products and services needed for the project. NJPA is a cooperative purchasing entity that partners 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,” says Hutchinson. “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 says 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 explains. “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 improvements to accommodate 700 vehicles. The new fields were ready in August, and have already hosted team practices and league play as well as five tournaments this fall.

“The cooperative purchasing process allowed us no loss of field time,” Hutchinson says.

As budgets become tighter, public entities are turning to cooperative purchasing agreements to save costs and streamline construction.

O’Fallon turned to NJPA, which had already conducted the RFP and thoroughly vetted vendors, their products and services.
Find what you need at here.