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District staff present multiple cost options for middle-school field renovation
Summary
District facilities staff presented vendors’ estimates for renovating the middle-school athletic complex, including synthetic turf and resodding options ranging from roughly $1.3 million to $4.3 million depending on procurement approach and scope; staff will return with refined plans and timing for possible 2027 work.
Mr. Brackett presented options for renovating the athletic fields behind Salisbury Township Middle School, telling the operations committee that vendor and engineering approaches produced a wide cost range that depends on whether the district retains a full engineer-of-record or contracts vendors directly. "It's gonna cost us $3,100,000 to put in a ... turf field," Brackett said of the CHA estimate for a full-engineer approach, and he contrasted that with direct-vendor pricing: "They'd install a turf field, 1,300,000," he said of a Keystone/Saw (Shaw) offer and cited AstroTurf at about $1.45 million.
Brackett explained trade-offs for grass versus synthetic turf: resodding the area would allow play in two to three months, while reseeding could take two years to regain use. He said grass-turnover should occur every five to six years to keep fields safe, whereas a well-maintained turf field could have an approximate 15-year life. Fencing options around a turf installation would add roughly $310,000–$350,000 depending on materials; Brackett noted a stadium-only turf option could be about one-third the cost of fencing the entire perimeter. Board members asked whether lower-cost turf products carry equivalent warranties and life cycles; Brackett said warranties were comparable across vendors and that contractor selection and fence details drive some price differences.
Board members also discussed site layout, including relocating the middle-school softball field to a better-draining corner, maintaining open practice areas for soccer and field hockey, and preserving space used by youth organizations (SYA). Brackett said construction access routing could save roughly $60,000 by avoiding building a temporary roadway, and he confirmed there are no permanent restrooms at the site (porta-potties are used now and bringing plumbing would be costly). He asked to return to the committee with aerial site plans and refined costs; he said the district would need to place work with contractors by July or August if it intends installation in time for fall 2027 athletics.
