Courtesy of Lake Forest College
LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- As an important next step in the addition of men's and women's lacrosse as varsity sports at Lake Forest College in 2021-22, construction crews broke ground on Mohr Field on Tuesday, May 12, and plan to have the project completed by August 15. The Foresters will be joining the Midwest Lacrosse Conference and Midwest Women's Lacrosse Conference for the 2022 season.
Lake Forest College President Stephen D. Schutt announced at the end of April that, despite the challenges and uncertainly involved with the COVID-19 pandemic, several renovations on campus, including the Mohr Field project, would continue as planned. The facility will be named after Jean Whyte Mohr '52 and Frank Mohr Jr. '52.
"I am incredibly pleased to be moving forward with the new lacrosse field/multi-use facility and proud that it will bear the Mohr family name," stated Lake Forest Vice President for Career Advancement and Athletics Jackie Slaats. "Jean and Frank were avid supporters of the College and Forester Athletics and champions of the sport of lacrosse being added to the slate of varsity athletic programming for both men and women on our campus."
The Mohr Field project will include the installation of synthetic turf over the entire fenced-in area south of Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse. It will serve as a contest venue for both men's and women's lacrosse, continue to be the home of Forester softball, and provide the Forester soccer teams with an additional game and practice field. The project will also include covered player benches, a new scoreboard, and an increased seating capacity in the area. Time-lapse video updates of the project will be posted to goforesters.com and shared via social media.
"Mohr Field is going to be an excellent addition to Forester Athletics and benefit many of our athletic programs, most notably the men's and women's lacrosse teams as they transition to varsity status," explained Lake Forest College Director of Athletics Blake Theisen. "As thrilled as we are about the addition of two new varsity sports, we are equally excited to provide our newest programs with a state-of-the-art facility for competition and practice."
Team Reil, Inc. is performing the excavating and construction work on the facility while Gewalt Hamilton Associates, Inc. provides engineering and project management oversight. Midwest Sport and Turf Systems, which was responsible for the surface on Lake Forest College's Farwell Field and many other facilities throughout the region, will be installing its MST Pro-Blend synthetic turf system. The entire project is expected to cost approximately $2 million.
The College also recently posted job openings for the positions of head men's lacrosse coach and head women's lacrosse coach.
"Blake and I are extremely excited about the search for the lacrosse programs' new head coaches," began Slaats. "We look forward to having them join our incredibly talented and committed coaching staff and put their mark on the long-standing Tradition of Excellence in Forester Athletics. Not surprisingly, we have well over 100 applications already and several strong candidates from which to choose."