School Board Studies Details, Cost of Turf Field

The Lynbrook Owls varsity football team literally ran its way to the , playing many of its games at home on aging, torn-up grass at Marion Street Field.

With that in mind, Lynbrook School District officials have to be wondering just how good the Owls would be on a turf field. At last week's school board meeting, officials released a report on what would be required to install a turf field on district property, and what such a field might cost village taxpayers.

From the moment residents saw the first slide of a PowerPoint presentation prepared for the board meeting — an aerial shot of Bethpage High School's turf field — many could be heard commenting just how professional and beautiful the property appeared.

"This is really what one would hope that every school district be able to have for its students in order to compete on," said Melissa Burak, the district's assistant superintendent for business, who served on the district committee that conducted the research on turf fields.

But installing a turf field is not just about the aesthetics, district officials said. The current field at Marion Street School does not drain properly; heavy rain often leaves puddles on the field, forcing the relocation or cancellation of games. Also, the school's baseball field overlaps with the football field, creating further wear and tear on the grass. As it is, both the varsity and junior varsity football teams practice at Marion Street Field. And if a turf field were to be installed — likely at South Middle School — the district would be able to redo its track, which has not been resurfaced in 12 years. The track is supposed to be resurfaced once every six years.

One of the advantages of a turf field is the drainage, considered to be excellent by many coaches and athletic directors. Indeed, the Owls had no trouble on Manhasset High School's turf field this past season — , even though it had rained for most of the day.

"We're a small school, but yet we put two teams on [Marion Street Field]," said Tom Graham, the district's athletic director. "About 150 to 160 kids are out on this field all fall, tearing this thing up.

"We're one of the few football programs that have actually cancelled games because we have a clay base over there, which becomes an ice skating rink if we can't get the water off," Graham added.

If the district were to install a turf field, it would likely go for the full package: new bleachers, a locker room, lighting, a scoreboard, and various equipment for track and field events. Burak estimated the cost of such a project to be about $4.6 million. It costs nearly $15,000 annually to maintain a Lynbrook athletic field, with an additional $600,000 every five years to replace the field sod.

The district has several options if it were to pursue installing a turf field next year. It could use capital reserves — there is currently $5.16 million in two capital reserve funds, in which case the field would not cost taxpayers any additional money. The district can also issue a bond and/or enter into a lease purchasing agreement. For the bond option or the lease purchasing option, the district would pay back the money over a 15-year period, but it would also owe interest, elevating the total cost of the field to approximately $7.2 million. 

If the Board of Education elects to use capital reserve money to pay for the project and does so in the 2011-12 budget, trustees must make that decision quickly, as the budget vote is in May. A bond, on the other hand, can be proposed to the community at any time.

Members of the Board of Education say they will discuss the turf field more as they begin budget workshop sessions, the first of which is being held Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at Lynbrook High School.