St. Cloud State didn’t need the historic field anymore. Now soccer players will fill it.

St. Cloud State University will sell historic Selke Field — an enclosed athletics space built during the Great Depression — to a local youth sports nonprofit.

The Central Minnesota Youth Soccer Association last week finalized an agreement to buy Selke Field for $350,000, with proceeds to be reinvested into facility upgrades at St. Cloud State University.

St. Cloud State leaders announced in spring plans to sell the 16-acre field, which the college no longer uses.

“We just didn’t know what it would sell for, so when it became something that could be in our price range, it seemed like a no-brainer to try and save this as green space for our community,” said Emily Willaert, president of the youth soccer organization.

Willaert, also a professor and women’s soccer coach at College of St. Benedict, said the organization previously partnered with area colleges, schools and cities to use parks and fields for practices and games. The association has rented Selke Field for decades, she said.

The field opened in 1931 and was later named for George Selke, a 1913 graduate who became the university’s longest-serving president. In 1937, a crew funded by the Works Progress Administration erected a 3,500-foot wall using granite from nearby quarries. The wall, which varies from 8 to 11 feet tall, surrounds the entire property.

“This is a little piece of heaven inside of St. Cloud,” Willaert said. “It’s just a beautiful groomed space [and] a really fun space to be in when it’s full of people playing soccer.”

The field hosted football games until Husky Stadium was built in 2004; it was most recently used for softball, but home games are now played at Husky Stadium.

Last year, SCSU leaders submitted a request to the city’s planning commission to rezone the field for apartments or townhomes as a way to increase flexibility as leaders finalized plans for what to do with the space. The planning commission rejected the request after hearing complaints from neighbors about declining green spaces in the city, as well as impacts to property values and concerns about crime.

The site is zoned for residential and park uses. Because it is a state asset, it could not be sold for less than the appraised value of $290,000.

The Central Minnesota Youth Soccer Association raised $100,000 in community donations and secured a loan through the Initiative Foundation to purchase the field and continue to provide programming for the 1,100 children who participate in recreational or competitive soccer each year.

Willaert said the organization’s top priority is assessing the condition of the granite wall and making any necessary repairs, followed by plans for field maintenance and parking upgrades.