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We all know that April showers will bring May flowers.

But the rain and snow showers in Steamboat Springs the last week of April also brought cancellations, frustration and a renewed call for an artificial turf field at the high school.

Fueled by the frustration of a wet spring, support for building an artificial turf field in Steamboat seems to be growing faster than the trampled grass on the Sailors' football field.

Spring sports at the high school have exploded in the past decade. Once upon a time, the only thing going on in the spring was track, but not anymore. Today, the school has soccer, lacrosse and baseball teams daydreaming about artificial turf.

The popularity of these spring sports among students is a solid indication that the time for an artificial surface has arrived.

But knowing that we need a new field is one thing and finding the funds to build it is another.

Just how much it would cost seems to be a subject of debate along the muddy sidelines this spring.

When the Steamboat field was rehabilitated in 1999, facilities supervisor Rick Denney estimated the cost to be $1 million to install an artificial surface. He said the cost, plus maintenance and concerns about replacing the field at the end of its 10-year lifespan, convinced the school district to stay with natural turf.

But more recently, the Western Eagle County Recreation District installed an artificial turf field in Edwards.

The cost of that field, which was built three summers ago, was closer to $600,000, facility superintendent Jim Sanders said.

He said the field has been a popular addition and has saved his department money in terms of water, fertilizer and other maintenance costs. He hopes the field will last longer than 10 years and thinks the district will be able to use patches to extend its life.

But in this tough economic climate, it's hard for the Steamboat Springs School District to justify spending that kind of money on a field.

With facilities such as Soda Creek Elementary School and the administration building in need of major work, it's easy to understand why a playing field slides down the priority list.

Plus, city officials recently announced plans to build a small artificial field near the Christian Heritage School. The city of Steamboat Springs, Great Outdoors Colorado and a few user groups will cover the $300,000 cost.

Sure, coaches are drooling about the opportunity to use the field for practice, but it's too bad that more effort wasn't put into building a field large enough to host high school games.

There's no question that an artificial field is a plus in a community where spring weather doesn't arrive until the final few weeks of the high school sports season. That's why there are so many people hoping April showers will, someday, lead to an artificial surface in Steamboat.