Selah High School’s Karl Graf Stadium will look awfully different when the Vikings football and girls soccer teams begin play this coming fall.

Ground was broken this week on the nearly $3.2 million project to install FieldTurf at the stadium. The artificial surface will lower maintenance costs for the facility, and will eliminate muddy conditions, bald patches and divots that can plague well-used grass fields.

Selah’s football team, as well as its boys and girls soccer teams, and Vikings lacrosse squad use Karl Graf Stadium, which can leave it worse for wear.

“The new FieldTurf is not only exciting, but much needed,” second-team all-CWAC running back and Selah junior Calen Wuitschick said in a release. “During the season, especially toward the end, the grass on the current field is challenging with mud and holes.”

Selah's boys soccer team has been playing its home games at Sozo this spring, while the lacrosse squad hasn't scheduled home contests this campaign.

The new field also will allow the Vikings to host more state playoff contests, whether for the Vikings or nearby teams.

East Valley football’s run to the Class 2A semifinals included a quarterfinal against Lynden at West Valley’s Clasen Field because Earl Barden Sr. Field, the Red Devils grass home field, was only approved by District 5, which includes the CBBN, CWAC and SCAC, for a first-round game.

District 5 collected the gate from the game, while West Valley kept proceeds from concession sales, since its people ran the stands.

Royal, winner of six straight Class 1A state championships, was able to host games at its David Nielsen Memorial Field through the semifinals three of the last five playoffs.

Selah becomes the fourth school in the CWAC to install artificial turf. Grandview unveiled its turf field at Rich Leenhouts Stadium – with the familiar greyhound-jumping-through- a-G logo – in 2015, while Toppenish’s Bob Winters Field christened its new faux-grass field with a 10-0 regular season and SCAC championship in 2021.

Quincy’s Jaycee Stadium also has an artificial surface, while East Valley, Ellensburg, Ephrata, Othello and Prosser still play on grass.

All but one field in the CBBN is artificial. Moses Lake started the move in 2008 when its Lions Field became the only field in Eastern Washington other than Pullman’s Martin Stadium and Pasco’s Edgar Brown Stadium to have FieldTurf installed. The Mavericks field was redone in 2021.

Yakima’s Zaepfel Stadium – shared by Davis and Eisenhower for football – was next to install FieldTurf in 2014, with Wenatchee’s Apple Bowl following the next year. Sunnyside opened its new stadium with an artificial field in 2021, while West Valley unveiled the face lift to Clasen Field in 2024.

Eastmont's Wildcat Stadium is still a natural field.

Royal is the lone SCAC team with an artificial surface, which opened in 2008 and was updated a few years ago.

Funding for the field’s installation comes from the district’s capital projects fund, and includes remaining state match dollars from previously approved improvements.

Teacher pay and day-to-day operations come from the general fund.