Des Moines Public Schools Push Forward on High School Athletic Fields and Tracks

Des Moines Public Schools is directing approximately fifteen million dollars toward new synthetic turf fields and eight-lane competitive tracks at East, Hoover, Lincoln and North high schools.

The work targets athletic infrastructure that supports seventeen sports offered across the district’s five high schools. East, Hoover, Lincoln, North and Central each field teams in football, volleyball, cross country, swimming, wrestling, basketball, track, soccer, tennis, golf, baseball and softball. The upgrades replace older surfaces at four of those sites and aim to give athletes consistent playing conditions for both practices and contests.

Progress at individual campuses

East High School’s new synthetic turf field has already been completed. Construction on the remaining three sites began in the spring, with Lincoln’s project described as nearing completion in recent district updates. The four-school package covers both the turf surfaces and the surrounding eight-lane tracks, giving teams dedicated competition venues rather than shared or temporary arrangements.

These changes arrive as most DMPS athletes continue to meet standard requirements that include an annual physical exam, sports registration and a signed concussion form, along with a fifteen dollar registration fee per student. The fee and paperwork remain unchanged while the physical plant improvements move ahead.

Conference alignments and participation levels

Nine Des Moines-area high schools compete in the Central Iowa Metro League, which lists twenty-one sports and places its largest members at the 5A classification. East, Hoover and Lincoln continue in that league. North High School left the CIML in 2021 to join the Iowa Alliance Conference alongside ten other schools, altering its regular-season schedule while still using the upgraded facilities now under construction.

The district’s investment focuses on venues that serve both CIML and Iowa Alliance teams from the affected schools. No new timelines beyond the current spring-start projects have been announced, and district documents list the work as part of ongoing facility maintenance rather than a single completed initiative.

Student-athletes and families can review registration steps and facility access details through the activities pages maintained by each high school. Updated schedules and any temporary venue adjustments during construction will appear on the same district sites as work continues.