MOSES LAKE - The Moses Lake School District Board of Directors voted to start the third phase of the Lions Field project.

Special Assistant to the Superintendent P.J. De Benedetti said the district hopes the entire project, which includes FieldTurf, bleachers, press box, concessions building and restrooms, will be finished by the end of August.

"That's what we're counting on," De Benedetti said.

The cost of phase III is $940,000, and the total cost of the project is approximately $2.7 million.

Phase III includes the construction of restrooms, ticket booths and a concessions building, according to De Benedetti.

The contractor is Halme Builders, the same contractors selected for phase II, De Benedetti said.

On May 3, volunteers disassembled the current bleachers to make way for new ones, during the second phase of the project.

"More than 50 parents and students participated in a tremendous effort led by Jared Pope and Greg Kittrell," De Benedetti said. "The Kiwanis Club of Moses Lake served coffee, water, doughnuts, hot dogs and sausages to the hungry workers."

The new bleachers hold 3,000 people and increase the capacity of Lions Field by more than double, he said.

The first phase of the project including removing natural turf and installing Field Turf, a brand of synthetic grass, according to De Benedetti.

"The new generations of synthetic turf play like natural turf and studies have shown that fewer serious injuries are being suffered on Field Turf than on natural turf," he said.