The city of Brownsville is upgrading six athletic fields in two city parks.

The city plans to rebuild the foundation beneath the fields at Morningside Park and the Brownsville Sports Park. The goal is to improve drainage. They're also adding grass and repairing, or replacing, irrigation systems.

Officials said many of the fields are more than 20 years old.

"We have divots, we have irrigation systems within the fields that are degraded and need to be refreshed or replaced completely, and just the health of the turf is older," Brownsville Parks and Recreation Director Sean De Palma said.

Construction is set to start by November and take about a year.

The project is expected to cost $500,000 and is funded through the Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation.