Installation could begin this spring on a new turf field behind Cape Elizabeth High School.

KidsTurf, a nonprofit group of Cape Elizabeth residents, has raised $650,000 in donations and pledges to pay for the project.

“We’ve reached our goal, but we want to keep going,” said Graham Smith, who helped lead the six months of fundraising. “There’s another phase with a snack shack and bleachers.”

For that final phase, the group is seeking to raise another $250,000.

Smith said it’s likely the turf could be installed as early as this spring. Lights were already installed for $100,000, money that was also raised through donations, rather than taxes. Though a town bond might have been an easier way to pay for the project, said Smith, that would have spread the costs to the entire town.

Initially, before a high school renovation project was scaled back because of the cost, an athletic complex with the turf, lights, bleachers and snack stand was proposed. Instead, the lower field behind the high school was refurbished by adding 10 feet to make it regulation size. The grass was reseeded, and an underground watering system was installed. Now, the new turf field will replace the old grass field.

Athletic Director Keith Weatherbie is looking forward to the new synthetic turf field, which will give teams more chances to practice and play during rainy months.

“It will provide a place where we will always be able to practice,” said Weatherbie. “No matter what the conditions are in the fall and especially in the spring. It would have to be an absolute monsoon to not be able to play.”

Turf is much better than grass in a number of ways, said Weatherbie. Not only does it stay usable in wet weather, but also, a larger number of teams can use it without the fear of digging up grass.

“I’m sure it will be a place that will be used constantly,” said Weatherbie. Besides the high school’s teams, all the schools can use the field, as well as youth sports, he added. Because the durable field can be used by so many, it will help alleviate pressure on other, overused fields, said Weatherbie.

Turf fields are growing in popularity. Cape Elizabeth joins both Scarborough High School and North Yarmouth Academy, which both installed fields this summer. A turf field is also planned for Deering High School in Portland. According to Smith, KidsTurf is looking at a few different companies to install the field, though he doesn’t want to reveal which companies until a decision is made in late December or early January.

Sprint Turf, a turf field company based in Pennsylvania, bid on the Scarborough turf project last summer. Two other companies also bid on the Scarborough project, including the South Portland-based Northeast Turf and Sports Turf International, which is owned by Scarborough resident Eric Lenardson.

Lenardson, who was chosen by the town to install the field, said in earlier interviews he did the project for just under $400,000, a $200,000 loss, in the hopes of creating other business in surrounding towns.

////On Tuesday, Lenardson said that he did bid on the Cape Elizabeth turf field.

“I’m sure we’re one of the contractors in the mix,” said Lenardson. ////

Mike Smith, the director of sales at Sprint Turf, said he was unaware of the Cape Elizabeth field, but would be interested in that project as well.

“The only reason we wouldn’t have bid on it is because we didn’t know about it,” said Smith. Sprint Turf, which began in 1999, typically tries to bid on all field projects, he added.

“The industry is kind of still in its infancy,” said Smith, who added that his company typically installs about 100 fields a year.

Though only about 1 or 2 percent of high schools and town parks nationwide have turf fields, said Smith, more and more communities contact Sprint Turf for information or help with private fundraising efforts.

“This was a group effort,” said Graham Smith of all the phone calls, mailings and other methods the group used to raise money. “A lot of people thought it was needed.”

More than 600 people have donated money so far, said Smith. At the Dec. 11 Cape Elizabeth Town Council meeting, a $100,000 donor will be announced.

“We’re very pleased,” said Smith. “But there’s still quite a bit of work to do.”

By this spring, a new turf field will likely replace the grass field behind Cape Elizabeth High School.