Soccer matches at a popular Lincoln Park neighborhood pitch have been canceled after officials learned that it was burned over the Fourth of July weekend, evidently by fireworks, officials said.
Chicago Park District officials estimated Wednesday that it would cost $15,000 to repair the damage and that the district has already lost $4,200 this week because of the canceled matches.
“The field’s unplayable,” said Chris Hastings, vice president of the Chicago Sport and Social Club, which holds its games at the field. “It’s disappointing that someone would do this, but I don’t hold the Park District responsible at all.”
On Wednesday, there was a 20-foot wide scorched patch in the middle of the $2 million artificial turf pitch, located just west of Lake Shore Drive near LaSalle Drive.
Park District officials, who discovered the damage Friday, said an outside company has been contracted to remove and replace the burnt area.
Games at the field will resume as soon as the repairs are made, said Jessica Maxey-Faulkner, a Park District spokeswoman.
Rick McKinley, director of the Chicago Eagles soccer group, said: “For a soccer player it is one of the most desirable (fields) to be at.”
Maxey-Faulkner said the Park District would reach out to leagues that may have lost revenue to determine the possibility of makeup games.
The scorching was one of many incidents said to be caused by fireworks over the holiday weekend.
Maxey-Faulkner said she could not confirm that fireworks caused the damage, though area residents have said that they suspect vandals with fireworks are to blame. Maxey-Faulkner said she didn’t know if a police report had been filed.
The soccer pitch opened in 2008, with the Protect Our Parks conservation group protesting that taxpayer money was being used for that purpose.
Tribune reporter Liam Ford contributed.