Officials Split on Pairing Turf with Middle School Renovation Project

Should installation of artificial turf at Southington High School be included in the Board of Education’s referendum on middle school renovations?

While board members were in agreement that artificial turf would benefit the schools and town, several members expressed concerns that adding it to the current $99.8 million proposal for middle school renovations would send the wrong message and could jeopardize the entire project.

“I think it’s admirable for people to bring forth this type of effort, but I’m very concerned about cost and feel if this issue is coupled with need for our middle school renovation, I don’t know if the voters would support this kind of process,” said Board Member Patricia Johnson. “I see this as a want. The middle schools are something we need.”

The Board of Education first began discussing the possibility of including artificial turf in a referendum during their May 12 meeting. Board Chairman Brian Goralski said the effort would further efforts to establish partnerships between town boards and commissions.

The proposed project would cost $904,376 to complete and would involve replacing the natural grass at Fontana Field at Southington High School with artificial turf inside the track. The track itself would be resurfaced as part of the project.

ProGrass, a Pennsylvania-based company, would be tapped to complete the work. The company is one of the industry leaders and has installed artificial turf in towns throughout the state, including at Falcon Field in Meriden.

John Fontana, chairman of the Parks and Recreation Commission, presented the complete proposal before board members Thursday evening, saying the fields would be an enhancement with virtually no negatives.

The town first began discussing the possibility of adding turf five years ago, but delayed pushing for turf after concerns over its safety. Those concerns were settled a year ago, Fontana said, when then-Attorney General Richard Blumenthal completed a study that determined turf was “at least as safe as grass.”

Board members including Goralski, Kathleen Rickard and Patricia Queen supported the project, saying it would not only provide a sense of pride but could alleviate problems that will come with using the existing middle school fields as storage areas during a potential renovation.

“I see our fields as being somewhat overburdened at high school already, never mind at the middle schools. Soccer teams already walk down the street to DePaolo in order to practice,” Queen said.

Other board members including Johnson, Jill Notar-Francesco and Terri Carmody said they fully support the concept, but in a tight economy weren’t willing to risk adding it to an already large referendum.

Instead they argued that the fields should be addressed as a separate issue and should be added to the capital improvement list instead.

The board will vote June 9 on whether to include turf in the referendum. If approved, the project would then be sent to the Southington Town Council for a vote on June 13.