Now that the town has approved the transfer of $915,000 from the Recreational Capital Trust fund to pay for the cost of replacing the turf at the stadium field at Lynnfield High School, the planning process is moving along.
“We have a unique opportunity and the timing is right in regards to the replacement of the turf at Field 1 at Lynnfield High School Stadium,” Department of Public Works Director John Scenna said. “It is our home field for varsity sports. Even our young children can play on their future varsity field because that’s what this complex allows children to do, even at a very young age. Already, things are moving along very quickly on this.”
Scenna said the field complex is a “center of the Lynnfield community. It introduces families with young children about what’s to come in the future. We want to make sure this field of all fields is in the most pleasing form not just aesthetic view, but player safety.”
It is unclear when work on the project will actually start. Scenna said he expects to have “more definitive dates within a few weeks.
“We are looking at two potential windows to replace the turf, one early in the spring and the second after graduation,” Scenna said. “The working group is scheduled to meet again at some point in early December. We are going to finalize our plans and have a heavy discussion then on which window to target.”
Scenna said construction will take approximately three to four weeks in all. He hopes the design will be finalized in February with bidding shortly thereafter. The project is estimated to cost a little more than $1 million, but Scenna thinks the actual cost will be lower.
“The conceptual estimate is coming in around $1.15 million but we feel confident that as we design the project and finalize the selection of infill, the shock pad, and do further evaluation on the effectiveness of the existing drainage system, that the project estimate will drop below the funding we have available,” he said.
Scenna credited the original fields committee with forward thinking in creating a “mechanism to fund the future replacement of the turf” at the time the original project was launched with the institution of user fees.
“They had the foresight at that time to create a stabilization fund just for the purposes of replacing the turf in the future and the years to come and that in the 10 years since the full complex opened, there is approximately $950,000 in the stabilization fund.” Scenna recapped the allocation of the fields’ user fees with 75 cents of every dollar going to the stabilization fund, 20 cents going to the DPW for maintenance and five cents going toward Recreation Department salaries.
While the life span of the original fields was projected to be 10 to 12 years, with new advances in technology, most turf fields now have life spans of up to 15 years.
According to Recreation Commission Chair Mike Cuddy, the user fees bring in approximately $90,000 per year. The fees, which have never been raised since the complex opened, have been raised from $30 per participant to $40. Rental fees to outside organizations have also been raised.
Scenna said the baseball, softball, and practice fields have not deteriorated as quickly as the main field simply because they are not used as heavily.
“But eventually, there will be a need to replace them,” Scenna said.
“We are trying to set it up for the future with the user fees. It’s really important to stay ahead of the curve,” Scenna said. “We need to prevent a situation where multiple fields fail at the same time. The state soccer complex in Lancaster had that problem and it ended up with kids tripping on the field because the seams were failing. They waited too long and now need to replace the complex in full. We do not want that to happen to us. Thankfully, in Lynnfield we have to applaud the people who managed the fields day in and day out to the point where the fields are respected by the varsity players and coaches and youth players and coaches.”
Scenna said that while 10 years ago the only option was a rubber infield, today there are a variety of choices that enhance player safety and performance, including the installation of shock pads to reduce the severity of certain injuries, such as concussions.
Scenna said the original complex was built approximately 10 years ago under the direction of the fields committee and Gill Engineering, which designed the original complex, and Gill has again been selected to design the new field.
