Soccer and baseball players at Coupeville High School may soon have a new place to practice.

The Coupeville School Board approved a $100,000 project to put in a temporary playing surface at Engle Field, located at the corner of Terry and Ebey roads.

That money would go to a project that would basically flatten the field, put in turf for a new soccer practice field and seed a temporary baseball field.

A temporary field is needed because the new high school will be built on the current practice field. Work crews will tear out the field this summer to prepare the site for construction that is scheduled to begin next year.

“We need to do something here and we need to do it in a hurry,” board President Don Sherman said during Monday’s school board meeting.

Superintendent Bill Myhr said he wants to have the soccer field ready by fall and the baseball field ready by next spring. The baseball equipment from the current field will be moved over to Engle Field.

In addition to providing practice space for athletic teams, students will use it during physical education classes.

Myhr said the school district has a permit from Island County to use the field as a temporary practice facility.

He said he won’t know if the money set aside for the temporary facility will cover costs until bids come back. The money comes from interest gained from bond proceeds.

When voters originally approved the $22.8 million bond that funded construction of a new high school, replacement baseball and soccer fields at Engle Field were listed as lower priority items. When construction costs for the high school came in higher than originally budgeted, the school district didn’t have the money to cover the lower priority items.

While the soccer teams play their games at Mickey Clark field, the location of next season’s baseball games remains unknown. Myhr said he is trying to find an alternate site or may ask the county for permission to hold games at Engle Field.