HAMBURG SCHOOLS
Voters OK synthetic turf at Howe Field
Voters in the Hamburg School District gave the go-ahead Tuesday for a new athletic field near the high school on Legion Drive.
Associate Superintendent Gordon Kerr said the capital project was approved, 747-246.
The $1.85 million project will convert the grass field to a synthetic, all-purpose athletic field. In addition, a small portion of the funds will be used to make some modest improvements to a classroom at Hamburg Middle School.
Eighty percent of the $1.85 million cost of revamping Howe Field should be covered by state aid. Included in the cost are $377,000 for lighting and $10,000 for site work.
The idea for a new synthetic field was brought to the School Board several months ago by a group of Hamburg alumni who felt an updated athletic field would be a boon to both the school district and the community.
Howe Field in Hamburg will join the growing number of athletic fields across Western New York that are trading in their natural grass for synthetic turf.
The Orchard Park School District recently approved a synthetic makeover for its athletic field, and installation of St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute’s new turf is nearly complete.
Other local schools that have made the changeover include Amherst, Lewiston- Porter, Warsaw and Pioneer Central schools, as well as the University at Buffalo, Buffalo State College and Niagara University.
Buffalo installed the turf at All High Stadium two years ago. It is used daily by different sports teams. Before it was installed, only one game a week could be played at All High, and the same at Riverside’s grass field. The district’s soccer teams had to depend on public parks for playing fields.
