Mam'k Schools Considering $7M+ Synthetic Turf Plan
by Joan R. Simon
(November 15, 2007) While the cost of adding turf fields at Mamaroneck high school could exceed $7 million, most of the nearly 100 parents at the school board meeting on November 13 strongly supported the plan. There were also several naysayers who raised safety and environmental concerns about using artificial turf materials.
The two proposals aired by the board, Plan B and Plan C, are almost identical to the ones offered last February. (See field diagrams at: Schools Weigh Two Options for Adding Turf Fields.) They involve changing the grass playing surfaces at the high school to artificial turf, installing night lights and adding one or two new fields.
Plan B would add artificial turf to Memorial Field, which sits next to the high school on the Post Road and hosts football and other varsity field sports. At Manchester Field, between the Palmer and Post buildings, a turf field for fall sports would be added to the baseball grounds, with the existing non-conforming track circling the field. The cost for Plan B would be just under $5 million.
The more popular proposal of the evening was Plan C, which would relocate a regulation-sized track to the outside of a re-oriented Memorial Field and enable Manchester Field to be reconfigured for two fall-sports fields, one regulation size and a second smaller one for practices and modified sports. Manchester would continue to accommodate the high school baseball program in the spring. The total cost of Plan C, including additional parking spots in front of the auditorium entrance, would be just over $7 million. Night lights at both fields are part of Plans B and C.
Installing artificial turf, but not lights, to the existing baseball and small field at Central School would add $680,000 to the cost of either plan.
Plan C propoposes synthetic turf and a track oval for Memorial Field (at right). A reconfigured parking lot at the high school with diagonal spaces and new spots in front of the auditorium would increase parking from 122 to 165 spaces.
Case Made for More, Better Fields
The price tags were new, but the arguments as to why more and better fields are needed were not. Athletic Director Bari Suman stressed that the situation for school sports is only getting worse. With over 700 students participating in 29 field sports teams, she explained that “60% of field sports programs use and depend on community fields.” In the community as a whole 5500 children participate in recreational field sports. Ms. Suman cited the poor quality of the fields, the inconvenience of off-campus locations for school sports, and the frequent rain closings, noting that “this fall 35% of the [school] games were impacted because of field closures.”
Intramural sports have been eliminated at the high school because of limited field space, she said, and some modified teams have 3 to 4 times the number of students trying out as there are spots available, with no possibility of adding new teams. Up to three teams have to be grouped for practices at one time, she added. She also noted that a re-located and regulation size track will better serve the 200 students who participate in the sport as well as community members who make use of the facility.
Trustee Linnet Tse, a member of the subcommittee on fields, stressed the benefits of the new plans, especially the more ambitious Plan C, which would increase the school field capacity by more than 70%. (See chart below.) She explained that turf fields could be played on continuously, lights would expand their use, and additional fields would accommodate increasing participation in sports.
Adding turf and lights at Memorial Field would add 15% to the availability of school district fields.Implementing all of the elements of Plan C would add 70%. Chart from Mamaroneck Schools.
Ms. Tse addressed the many reasons why additional field capacity is sorely needed: to accommodate more teams on school property; to provide pre-season practices which are difficult when municipal fields are not open until September; to expand programs to meet the needs of the secondary schools; to avoid the daily and potentially dangerous walks down the Post Road by athletes who practice and play games at Harbor Island and the Hommocks; and to have the flexibility to reschedule games cancelled by inclement weather.
She also pointed out that if school athletes were using on-campus fields, the community areas would be freed up for recreational teams and “passive” play during the week. In addition, there would be more school fields available to the community on the weekends.
The Village of Larchmont was praised for its plan to install a new turf field at Flint Park, which will alleviate some of the overcrowding for recreational sports. However, it was pointed out that the new field will not directly affect the school programs.
Problems with Turf “Crumbs”
Trustee Michael Jacobson addressed some of the concerns about the “crumb rubber” in artificial turf that have recently been raised in nearby communities as well as in a number of countries around the world. He discussed several studies, including one done by the Connecticut Agricultural Experimental Station (CAES) to evaluate whether gasses released at high temperatures by the “crumbs” are dangerous to athletes. Another concern is the extent to which the “crumbs” leach potentially harmful substances into the ground and nearby waterways. Links to scientific studies will be available on the district’s website.
Mr. Jacobson cautioned that sometimes issues “can get sensationalized and out of hand.” “If we thought there was a danger, we would not proceed,” he said, explaining that no decision was being made that night and that the fields subcommittee would study the research further.
Grass vs. Turf
William B. Aniskovich, the president of the design consultant firm WBA Group, provided cost estimates of the Plans B and C and fielded questions about the proposals. When asked about the longevity of turf, he said the warranty would probably be for 8 years and the life expectancy might be 11 to 12 years, but that replacing the turf material itself would be far less expensive than the initial work of site and drainage preparation.
An audience member asked what it would cost to use grass rather than artificial turf, and the board promised to get those figures. However, it was clarified that there is no such thing as “durable grass” and that no grass field could equal the continuous use and all-weather capacity of turf. Mr. Aniskovich noted that grass fields are more costly to maintain and need to be rested periodically, a luxury a community with limited field space cannot provide.
Mr. Aniskovich also explained that the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) requires an evaluation of the run-off before and after the installation of artificial turf. In addition, any new project will have to undergo a State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) before work can begin.
Turf Fields in Westchester
The board displayed a map showing that turf fields have already been installed in 19 Westchester school districts, which supported complaints of local athletes that they are at a disadvantage because they play many away games on turf but are unable to practice on these types of fields.
New turf fields are under consideration in other communities, but environmental and health concerns are also beginning to surface. Nyack residents are currently debating the safety of two artificial turf fields that are part of an upcoming school bond. (See Nyack turf battle building.)
Synthetic turf fields have already been installed in the following Westchester schools (in green): Blind Brook, Bronxville, Byram Hills, Dobbs Ferry, Eastchester, Fox Lane, John Jay, Lakeland, New Rochelle (3 fields), Ossining (3 fields), Panas, Pleasantville (2 fields), Rye, Scarsdale, Somers, Valhalla, White Plains (2 fields), Woodlands, and Yorktown. They are also in 7 county parks (in yellow) in New Rochelle, Portchester, Eastchester, Rye Brook, White Plains, Yonkers (3 fields) and West Harrison.
Worries about Artificial Turf
Three speakers, out of approximately 20, raised concerns about artificial turf. Catherine Wachs and Michelle Lewis called for a careful look at the research into potentially harmful effects on children and the environment of the rubber crumb turf. They worried about harmful gasses, contamination of nearby water and creating additional impermeable surfaces in a flood prone area. Disposing of the crumb tire turf could also be a problem, since it is not allowed in regular landfills. They suggested exploring safer alternatives. “We should think about what we’re doing to our natural environment,” said Kathryn Hearst, who described herself as a “soccer mom.”
Support for Plan C
However, all the other speakers, who were mostly coaches or sports league officials, expressed support for adding turf fields. The sentiment was strongly in favor of Plan C, which would give the school district significantly more field capacity than Plan B.
Among the oft-repeated comments were:
- “frustration” at games being cancelled on sunny Saturdays because of rain the previous Thursday or Friday;
- “embarrassment” over fields in poor (and often dangerous) conditions, compared with those in neighboring towns;
- the inconvenience of using practice fields in other towns, resulting in extra costs and time-wasting commutes for local recreational teams;
- enthusiasm for having regular evening games on a turf field, under the lights, which would bring the community together and give teens “a place to go” on weekends;
- requests that fields get the same kind of attention and money that other non-academic areas, such as drama, music and art, have received from the school district in recent years
Field For Kids to Raise Money
Kevin Danehy, a board member of Fields for Kids that supports additional fields for Larchmont and Mamaroneck, said that his organization had already raised over $1 million for the Village of Larchmont’s fields and “we will do the same kind of fundraising for the school.”
A member of the girls varsity soccer team pleaded with parents in the audience, saying, “We want to play. We just want you to help us do it.” Kerry Stein, a recreational lacrosse and soccer coach, reflected most of the opinion in the room when he said: “Seven million dollars is a lot of money, but the cost of not doing it is more expensive.”