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Politics & Government

School Committee Backs Artificial Turf Proposal

The group raising private funds for the stadium project sought the School Committee's endorsement Thursday.

 

The voted unanimously to back a fundraising campaign to build a new artificial turf field at for use by all outdoor field sports.

The One Field For All Committee asked the committee for its support as it begins raising $750,000 from private sources to pay for . The town has proposed to pay $1.85 million for the new lighted field.

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The total cost of the new field is $2.6 million.

Linso van der Burg, chairman of the fundraising committee, told the board that the committee has pledges for $100,000. And the committee hopes to have 30 to 40 percent of the $750,000 by spring when the Town Meeting is expected to be asked to back the full $2.6 million, he said.

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Joining van der Burg in the presentation was Martin Goldman and Paul Gorman.

The new field would be safer for the players, van der Burg said. At $20,000 a year, it would also be much cheaper to maintain than the current $60,000 the town pays to maintain the grass field at Phillips Park.

Chairman Jacqueline Kinney worried that people would not understand that the Town Meeting can vote for both a new sports field and a new Hadley Elementary School. She said both could be approved.

Member Rick Kraft asked about plans to maintain and replace the field in the future.

To replace the field would cost about $500,000 in about 15 years, van der Burg said. The plan is to create an account that collects user fees at the field to pay for the new turf.

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