Each time Skyline football inhabited the dirt patch north of the school’s main parking lot this summer, the players witnessed each step of the love and the care that the St. Vrain Valley School District was pouring into their team, their community.
The district has been hard at work through much of 2026, building out the infrastructure for home stadiums for both Skyline and Silver Creek. Leading up to this fall, Every-Montgomery Field at Longmont High School served as home base for many of the older high schools in the district — with Skyline, Silver Creek and Niwot forced to play most of their home games there.
The steep hill and unassuming turf field of old at SHS is now a fleshed-out stadium, complete with home and away stands, a press box, a large new video scoreboard, a concession stand, locker rooms, public restrooms and storage space for both football and track.
“We saw it come to life little by little,” Skyline senior running back Armando Gurrola said. “We still can’t believe it. Construction started this January, and for it to be done this year and for me to be the first graduating class is just special. For people to actually come out now and enjoy the stadium with us, it was incredible.”
The Falcons already have reaped the benefits of their reward. In their lone home game so far this season, they saw an increased number of fans in the stands, and head coach Justin Vogt said the excitement from his players has been palpable.
Especially because the spit of land they had to work out on this summer was, well, less than optimal. It was just a patch of dirt, for the most part. Before this year, the team had only played its homecoming and senior night games at the high school. Fans had to bring their own chairs to sit on the hill.
“The kids fought through it knowing they had the Taj Mahal coming,” Vogt said. “The excitement when they saw everything was amazing. We’ve been working out all summer and told the kids itap coming. Itap exceeded expectations from the kids and coaches, and I think from the admin standpoint, the construction crew did a great job.”
The dual projects at Skyline and Silver Creek have “been a long time coming,” per assistant superintendent of athletics Chase McBride. SVVSD poured $16 million into the improvements at those two schools alone.
“The stadium(s) (were) funded using additional dollars that were generated from strong investment returns on project funds from the 2024 voter-approved bond authorization,” according to an email from the districtap chief financial officer, Tony Whiteley, which McBride provided.
Thatap just a microcosm of the districtap wider efforts to beautify each individual school’s stadium.
Just last year, Niwot moved all of its home games away from Every-Montgomery Field and over to NHS. That field is equipped with a high-tech video board, lights and a small spatter of stands on the east side of the field.
Vogt acknowledged that the Falcons are just the latest beneficiaries of the districtap push to ensure that all high schools are treated equally.
“Itap about just making sure that our kids get the best experience possible as we continue to build our system from the inside out,” McBride explained. “Some of the newer schools such as Frederick, Mead and Erie — they have stadiums. We really just wanted to provide that kind of experience for the communities that didn’t have it.
“As with the other stadiums, we put the turf in (at Niwot), then we put the lights up, and then we just redid a number of things. We just kind of nickel and dimed it along the way. Itap really just kind of see where we are financially, and then take the next steps to improving our other facilities.”
The perks, of course, go far beyond football. Soccer teams now will have the ability to play in front of bigger crowds, while track and field athletes can enjoy their own updated facilities. Graduations can now take place in a much more suitable venue at the high school itself.
“We have data that proves that kids that are involved (in school activities) finish high school and graduate and move on to whatever they want to do next,” McBride said. “Us being able to increase involvement and increase community and increase where all the great things are happening in our system, itap really our goal.
“Itap not just sports. In a stadium like this, you can have band performances. You can have choir performances. You can have graduation. You can do all kinds of things that bring school assemblies, just things that bring the community together. Thatap really what the focus of this is — just to increase involvement, increase community and increase belonging to our communities that didn’t have that before.”
Skyline’s head track coach and assistant football coach James Davis said that while he’s already enjoying the rewards in the fall season, he can’t wait to test out the new track in the spring. The shot put area, right now, is still in construction.
“It feels like home. It really does,” Davis said. “There’s no need to travel for a home game. The kids are now comfortable. We can practice here, train here, compete here. It feels so much better, so much more relaxing.”
