PHOENIXVILLE — While some area school districts are pondering the pros and cons of installing their first artificial turf field, the Phoenixville School district is ready to replace a 12-year-old turf field, and at a discounted price.
The school board voted unanimously at its Sept. 23 meeting to hire Keystone Sports Construction to replace one of its four artificial turf fields at a cost of $396,649.97.
The district had budgeted $500,000 for the replacement, but by buying now, “at the end of inventory,” the district was able to save money on a replacement which is to be ready for play in spring of 2025, according to discussions at the school board’s Sept. 9 Facilities Committee meeting..
“Areas of concern” on the field have been repaired adequately to make it available for use this year.
“Upper Turf Field No. 2,” located across the street from Washington Field along Purple Pride Parkway, was installed in 2012. It is used for soccer, lacrosse and field hockey.
According to Nicole R. McClure, Ph.D., the district’s director of communications, Phoenixville “has four turf fields in total: Washington Stadium, Upper Turf 2, and Fields 20 and 30 at Manavon Elementary that are multi use fields, one being a softball/baseball facility.”
“Additionally, PASD operates eight grass fields at the High School and Manavon Elementary, with a ninth in the plans located at Hares Hill Elementary which is slated to open in 2025. There are no plans to replace any of those fields with turf.”
Those few schools without any turf fields in the region are now giving their installation serious consideration.
In May, the Boyertown School Board voted 6-3 to hire an engineering firm to design bids for replacing as many as two grass fields with turf, at an estimated combined cost of about $7 million. The vote came in the wake of a push by families of athletes, primarily the field hockey team, who cannot play home games because Boyertown does not have a turf field they can use and other districts refuse to play on grass.
Those opposed to the project have pointed to the cost and asked if Boyertown can afford that expense.
In June, the Pottstown School Board voted unanimously to spend $305,500 to hire a consulting firm to conduct a study of all the district’s field, and to prepare a comparison of the benefits of turf versus grass.
In 2017, 73 percent of voters in the Perkiomen Valley School District voted against borrowing $2 million to install a turf field at the high school. But by 2020, the then-school board voted to move ahead with a $3.9 million bond that included construction of a turf field.
The Pottsgrove School District made the installation of a turf field part of it’s high school renovation project in 2015.
The district-wide master plan for Owen J. Roberts School district calls for the construction of an additional turf field for multi use.
The Spring-Ford Area School district installed a turf field in its football stadium all the way back in 2008.
