A Fort Myers landmark will be getting a long-awaited and much-needed facelift.

The Lee County School District announced the renovation of Fort Myers High School's Edison Stadium thanks in part to a $250,000 grant by the Miami Dolphins through the National Football League Foundation Grassroots Program.

The project, which will cost $1.1 million, will replace the grass field with synthetic turf running in conjunction with upgrading the track to a rubberized surface. A check presentation ceremony will be held on Friday, and construction is scheduled to begin at the end of the fall football season in December with plans to finish in March 2023. 

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“It has been a long time coming,” Fort Myers Principal Robert Butz said. 

Fort Myers previously applied to the grant a year ago and was denied but was successful on its second attempt. Central to the school’s proposal was the safety risks stemming from the issues plaguing Sam Sirianni Field, Butz said.

The field is unable to maintain the grass sustainably and turns into a “sandpit” after overuse, according to Fort Myers athletic director Steven Cato. The dirt along the sidelines near the asphalt track also presents a danger.

The renovation is “going to give our players a safe field to be able to play on a safe surface to run on,” Cato said.

An upgraded field will also free up a practice space for the school, which reported more than 700 student-athletes to the FHSAA last year – the highest figure among Lee County high schools.

Fort Myers has only one practice field, and, in some cases, teams and programs, like JROTC and the marching band, have been forced to hold practices off campus because of the lack of space.

“This has been going on for such a long time," Butz said. “It’s been a hardship. It’s been a hardship for our kids.”

Lee County athletic director David LaRosa said the school district has paid for five major field renovation projects in the past eight years at Edison Stadium, all of which failed to improve its condition.

“You can’t just keep pouring money into the field each year when it’s just going to end up in the same condition,” he said. “If you went out there today, it looks like a hayfield. It’s terrible.”

LaRosa said problems with the field date back more than 20 years, ones he dealt with intimately when he served as Fort Myers High’s athletic director and then its principal. He said the addition of lacrosse only exacerbated the issues because it delayed the field’s growth season by more than two months with games extending into late April.

“There were years we couldn’t have a spring football game because the field wasn’t playable,” he said. 

“We had to call off games when it was raining because of being fearful the field would get torn up. That affects a lot of things, revenue and you don’t give the fans the opportunity to come to a home game.”

Last season, Fort Myers did not play their scheduled home game against Sebring because of inclement weather. The condition of the field in the aftermath means makeup games are not often an option.

LaRosa said that in 2007, Fort Myers High alumni had raised enough money to fund upgrading Edison’s Stadium Field to an artificial surface. However, the subsequent housing market crash sapped local revenues, derailing both that plan as well as talk the school district would install turf fields at all its high schools.

About half of the cost of the field replacement is covered by the NFL grant and a matching donation to the school. The rest will require fundraising through private donations

Butz explained that the benefits from upgrading the stadium will reach beyond the high school. The school is often contacted by youth programs for running clubs or camps, but they have to turn them away because of the state of the field.

“We’re so centrally located that it’s perfect for these youth programs to be able to use our facility,” he said.

LaRosa estimated the total renovations at Fort Myers High would cost about $1.6 million.

“Honestly, it should have been done a long time ago with all the issues that field has had,” LaRosa said. “I’m happy to see it’s finally happening.”

If interested in donating, please visit the Fort Myers school website at https://fmh.leeschools.net/.

Dan DeLuca contributed to this report.

Follow News-Press Sports Reporter Dustin Levy on Twitter: @DustinBLevy. For additional coverage of sports across Southwest Florida, follow @newspresssports and @ndnprepzone on Instagram.