UNIVERSITY VILLAGE — For the first time in school history, the St. Ignatius football team will play under the glow of Friday night lights at home.
After a $1 million renovation, St. Ignatius College Prep, 1076 W. Roosevelt Road, will debut its new football field — including new lights, allowing the team to play at night — at its varsity home opener. The team (1-1) will take on Burbank-based St. Laurence High School (1-1) at 7 p.m. Friday.
Other renovations included new turf, permanent bleachers, a new scoreboard, speakers and a press box, which has yet to be completed. The field can now seat 1,500, said Paul Ickes, the new athletic director at St. Ignatius.
Adding the overhead lights to the field makes it possible for the team to host home games at night, Ickes said. Previously, the football team played most home games at a UIC field or at St. Xavier University in Mount Greenwood.
Ickes, who lives in the city’s Brighton Park neighborhood, said that the high school's University Village neighbors are eager to support the Wolfpack at home, and some area businesses are offering deals before and after games.
“Businesses are very excited about the prospect of having a lot of people in the area,” he said.
The upgraded football field has boosted school spirit, too.
“Because [St. Ignatius] kids come from such a wide area, it was difficult for them to get to games,” Ickes said. Now, they’ll be able to hang out after school or walk over to Taylor Street before games, he said.
After being disbanded in 1963, the St. Ignatius football team was revived in 2002.
Ickes, a St. Laurence High School grad, said he expects Friday night’s game to be a close.
“It should be a great game,” he said.
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