MADRAS – After years of waiting, Jessie Macias’ dream is finally coming true.

Last week, inmates helped roll long lines of lush green sod onto firmly packed dirt in Juniper Hills Park. What was once sagebrush and juniper territory will soon be soccer fields.

On Tuesday, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., will be in Madras at 10:30 a.m. to help dedicate the two new regulation-size fields. But kids in cleats and shin guards will probably have to wait until next spring to actually play on them. The grass needs a little more time to take root.

A project receiving national, state, regional and community support, the soccer fields have been years in the making. Created out of land donated by the Bean Foundation, the ground was leveled with the help of National Guardsmen. The U.S. Soccer Foundation, based in Washington, D.C., donated project management, landscape architecture and engineering services.

The Northwest Area Foundation pledged $25,000 for the fields. And last year the county received a $250,000 grant from the Oregon Department of Parks and Recreation as part of the parks department’s local government grant program. Many other local groups also contributed time and energy.

But Macias, an educational assistant at Madras High School and a leader in the soccer community, was the person who pushed the project from the beginning.

”The nice part is the people who originally gave us the money to start with, the nice part is I can prove to them and I can prove to a lot of people: a project like that, it’s a result of the community effort. It’s not just one person taking charge.”

Until now, the Madras Soccer League, a group of adult teams that play from May to October, played on a field between the high school and the stadium. The new fields will be the first public soccer fields in Jefferson County.

Greg Kemper, who coordinates the Kiwanis Youth Soccer league in Jefferson County, has organized many games on the field next to Westside Elementary.

The field there is not level, and he has to measure out smaller fields for his younger players.

”These are going to be fantastic, big regulation-type soccer fields,” Kemper said.

The fields include slopes that can be used like bleachers, where spectators can lay on blankets and watch the game. The fields will eventually be complemented by a playground, restrooms, paved paths and some parking, said Kemper, who is also chairman of the Juniper Hills Park Committee.

Jefferson County Commissioner Mike Ahern estimated that the entire project, including labor, came in at just under $1 million.

Macias says he looks at young kids playing soccer today and sees the future.

”They will be out there on those fields playing their hearts out, knowing their parents worked on those fields,” he said.

”They will know the fields belong to them.”

Julia Lyon can be reached at 541-504-2336 or jlyon@bendbulletin.com.