Larkin High School in Elgin broke ground Tuesday on its much-anticipated $15.1 million sports stadium.
“This is something that’s been wished for for decades,” Larkin Principal Jason Misicka told those gathered on the school’s track area, where the stadium will be built.
Larkin, which opened in 1962, is the only school in District U-46 to not have its own stadium. It’s been sharing Elgin High School’s Memorial Field about four miles away as its home location for football, soccer and other sports events since 1967.
Misicka said the new stadium will provide students and staff with a sense of pride and belonging. And the annual football face-off between Larkin and Elgin high schools for the Little Brown Jug and city bragging rights will finally become a real crosstown rival game, he said.
That game is scheduled to be played Friday, Oct. 9, and will be the Larkin Royals’ second at the new facility. The first game will be against Streamwood High School, also in District U-46, on Friday, Oct. 2, according to Larkin Athletics and Activities Director Alexander Serluco.
U-46 Superintendent Suzanne Johnson, speaking at the groundbreaking, said the new Larkin stadium will have artificial turf and seating for more than 2,000. There also will be a track designed for training and competitive events, updated locker rooms, restrooms and a concessions area.
“This is a great time to be a Royal,” Johnson said.
The track and the stadium’s football/soccer field will have an east/west orientation, which is in alignment with Illinois High School Association rules.
Among those at the groundbreaking was Elgin Mayor Dave Kaptain, who was a student at Elgin High School when Larkin opened and remembers Elgin fans being stunned when Larkin beat EHS for the first time in the 1967 battle for the Little Brown Jug.
“What will be nice for Larkin students now is that their (sports-related) memories will be set on their own campus,” Kaptain said.
U-46 Educational Foundation President Denise Broz and foundation board member Chandler Swan said they were at the groundbreaking to show support for the project. Swan’s two sons graduated from Larkin, one in 1990 and the other in 1993, he said.
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“I was amazed that they didn’t have a stadium when they built the school. It’s great that they finally have one,” Swan said.
Also in attendance was Louie, the Larkin Royals’ team mascot, aka school senior Devin Krueger, once a running back for the school’s football team.
Having to play at Elgin High School, especially for rivalry games, was always disappointing, Krueger said. With a stadium on their own campus, more students and people from the neighborhood might attend Larkin games, he said.
What’s still to be resolved is what the stadium will be named. Speaking prior to the ceremony, Johnson said it will be decided by a committee at a later date in a process similar to the one used in selecting the name Legacy for the new middle school being built on Elgin’s east side.
“I expect there will be a lot of suggestions,” Johnson said.
Mike Danahey is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.