Haddonfield Memorial High School junior Henry Klaus didn’t understand all the fuss about a new turf field at the Bulldawgs’ football stadium.
Then he got the chance to play on a turf field, and, suddenly, it clicked.
“I didn’t really mind our field that much,” Klaus said. “I liked playing on dirt until I got to play on a really nice turf field. Now I am kind of excited for it.”
Next year, turf is coming to the Bulldawgs’ football stadium, as well as the adjacent, Victory Field, owned by the borough. The new installation is being funded by $600,000 raised privately for the just $1 million project, with the borough and school board covering the balance.
The installation of turf fields in the borough has been a lightning rod for criticism about the costs, even with private donations. The high school stadium resurfacing was originally included in an upcoming bond referendum for the public purchase of the 19-acre Bancroft property adjacent to the high school on Kings Highway East.
The successful private fundraising effort allowed local officials to remove it from the Bancroft funding, which is currently tallied at $12.5 million. But that amount still includes $1.2 million for the construction of a new artificial turf field on the newly acquired property, if voters approve the Jan. 22 referendum.
Leaders of the private fundraising drive argue the artificial turf fields will benefit youth sport programs as well as high school programs. They say it will also allow several overused grass field to recover.
“In a school district and in a town that has such large numbers of participation in athletics, and having so many teams not only high school but youth level and rec level, our grass fields are overused and we do not have an opportunity to rest them,” said Haddonfield athletic director Lefteris Banos. “The only logical answer is to have a turf field.”
Prior to the start of the fall season, Haddonfield girls' soccer coach Glenn Gess spoke about the poor conditions of Scout Field, which is the home location for the boys’ and girls' varsity teams. The field had suffered from years of foot traffic, became patchy at best with branches starting to hang over into play on the near sideline. While Gess will happily take the upgrade, he admitted there did seem to be something special about Scout Field.
“It is no secret that we have some of the worst fields in the state,” Gess said. “When teams come to Scout (or the Stadium), the first thing you hear our opponent and their coaches talking about is the condition of our field. They definitely get psyched out because most of them have nice grass fields or turf.”
The high school field is also scared with potholes and ruts that provide a home-field advantage, but also causes a good amount of chagrin.
Before the Bulldawgs’ Thanksgiving game with Haddon Heights, senior Adam Augugliaro spoke about the anticipation of the new turf, even though he will not be able to enjoy it.
“These guys have a bright future ahead of them and I know their excited about what the new field is going to look like,” he said.
While much of the attention has been put on the football team’s benefit from the project, the scope extends much wider.
“The coaches and student athletes are very excited to have a turf field to play on,” Banos said. “It will be for football, boys’ and girls’ soccer, lacrosse and field hockey and not only high school but youth. All the teams will have access to it.”
That doesn’t mean the fields currently being used will no longer feature high school games. There will still be schedule conflicts that result in games played on grass fields, but Banos envisions the majority of the contests taking place on the turf.
“Anybody that plays on a field is excited because it is just going to be one place where everybody will go and play their games,” Klaus said.
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Jack S
10:42 am on Monday, December 10, 2012
I was at a meeting at one of our schools today. The whole school is sharing 3 Smart Boards among hundreds of students. There's no money to buy more art $10k per board. Yet we have millions for future turf costs? This is all about wealthy parents, who won't get financial aid or need-based scholarships, hoping for sports scholarships. What's the net benefit to the community as a whole? A lot less that the # of kids who can learn how to do a presentation using a smart board.
Jack S
5:25 pm on Friday, December 7, 2012
I was at a meeting at one of our school today. The whole school is sharing 3 Smart Boards among hundreds of students. There's no money to buy at $10K per board. Yet we have millions for future turf costs? This is all about wealthy parents, who won't get financial aid or need-based scholarships, hoping for sports scholarships. What's the net benefit for the community as a whole? A lot less than that the benefit to the kids who should be learning on Smart Boards.
Joe T
8:28 pm on Friday, December 7, 2012
Jack S, there is no turf field cost in this years budget of 33 million. I do see healthcare costs went up 140k over last year. That increase would have paid for 14 boards. But wait, i thought you were against more taxes and spending? 10k for boards is ok? Whats the benefit to the community for spending $5.4 million a year on health benefits? How do students benefit from that? How about taxpayers?
How about we transition to Rosetto Stone and reduce staff in the language arts? Won't that teach kids just as well. We can use some of the savings for white boards and Ipads
http://www.haddonfield.k12.nj.us/BOE/Attachments/UserFriendly%20Budget%202012-13.pdf
Brian Kelly
5:25 pm on Friday, December 7, 2012
In fairness to people who are concerned over the cost of the referendum, remember to add this in. The early turf estimates were stated at 500,000 thousand for the turf and 500,000 for initial installation, drainage system and insurance.
As 500,000 didn't include the highest quality turf field, the upgrade is more. The students should be playing on the highest quality field for safety purposes, true enough.
Anniversary field, which has been stated by the BoE as solely for practice carry the same costs and maybe more because of the recent drainage problems at Anniversary.
1 million for each new field minus 600,000k from the turf committee fundraisers leaves you at 1.4 million. Whatever the final estimate the BoE gives us for Bancroft after open space grant funds, tack that on conservative estimate of 1.4 million.
In other words, a portion of the referendum has already passed. This is why Anniversary field was taken off the Bancroft referendum right before the 11/27 BoE meeting, is being paid for by borough funds and will be back under the BoE jurisdiction at a later date. Sneaky, huh?
Don't forget to add in the million plus turf replacement bill every 8 year.
Joe T
8:55 pm on Friday, December 7, 2012
Brian come on, replacing turf only requires replacing the surface, not the drainage and not the site work and other items. The infrastruture will already be there. The cost is for the material about $500k. The warranty says 8 yrs but fields last longer.
Any idea how much the upgrade is - $1 per foot or something if even true?
Here's a question. How long does a road resurfacing last before it gets redone? Oh, about 8-10 years. We pay for that over and over again. See, when you have assets that the community uses, eventually you need to replace them. How many years does a dumptruck last or police car since you are trying to make a point about useful life.
BTW 1 million over 20 yrs bond is 50k a year plus 3% interest. Wow what a budget buster to solve so many problems.
Yep sneaky. those guys sit behind close doors and try to figure out ways to dupe Brian Kelly.
Did you still want to debate eligibilty of OS money for ACTIVE REC like you posted a while ago or did you find out I was correct?
Brian Kelly
1:20 pm on Saturday, December 8, 2012
Joe taxpayer, We're not talking about replacement, we're talking about initial installation costs. But you knew that.
The replacement depends on how much use the field gets and since it's surrounded by woods and wildlife the cleanup and maintenance will far surpass other fields in open environments, among other things. That's why it's bye bye to the Haddonfield fireworks tradition you attended growing up before someone like you ruined it.
Back to the roads again Joe? Yes, you replace roads and other infrastructure before luxuries like turf field. A police car has a more useful life than field turf. You might want to remember that with all the crime in town.
50k a year plus 3% interest only covers the first turf installation. Add in the money spent for replacement fields every 8 years after the initial purchase. After 16 years we'll be purchasing our third fields while still paying for the first ones.
You were right and I was wrong about the open space money being used for active rec. Pull up that post and we'll see if you can admit you were incorrect on all the other points listed.
Better yet, just keep on posting here. You're the gift that keeps on giving.
"Duping" is your phrase. What's going on is typical political maneuvering with a not so subtle nuance involving all the usual players to achieve an objective at maximum cost to the taxpayers.
Brian Kelly
2:04 pm on Saturday, December 8, 2012
By the way, It's important to note there are survey companies calling all over Haddonfield asking very personal and invasive questions and sometimes moving on to questions about Bancroft and Haddonfield.
A few members from Haddonfield United received these. They usually start by telling you you've won something or you entered in a contest.
There are things PAC funded committees have the money to do.
Haddonfield United hopes to talk to residents, give them our feelings about the referendum and let the chips fall where they may.
Joe T
2:07 pm on Saturday, December 8, 2012
Can you provide some examples of the very personal and invasive questions so we can determine for ourselves if they are. Thanks
Jack S
3:17 pm on Saturday, December 8, 2012
The surveyor told me I had submitted an entry for a Walmart gift card, which I hadn't. Then he asked about income level, ethnicity, residency status, etc. He claimed he needed to know my name (if I had truly won a sweepstakes, I'm sure he could have figured out that information from the alleged entry). If the pro-Bancroft lobby is willing to spend real money on telemarketing firms that throw out a deceptive lures to get people to answer surveys, I think that tells you everything you need to know.
Joe T
2:04 pm on Saturday, December 8, 2012
Brian you wrote "Don't forget to add in the million plus turf replacement bill every 8 year." I didn't bring up replacement you did but you knew that. Are you seriously worried about the fireworks? OC launches their fireworks right by their turf field. no problem for the field or the surrounding houses/roofs.
Thanks for admitting you were wrong and I was right. I will keep posting because I know the facts are on my side. Facts about the budgets, facts about the fields, facts about taxes for too much healthcare expenses. You can try and make fun of me and mock me. Usually being right brings that on but I can take it. It's a curse of knowing so much.
A police car lasts longer than a turf field? I don't think so. It's not even allowed to be capitalized because of its short useful life. Look it up.
Since you introduced crime, let me ask what does that have to do with turf fields. If we have crime it is because we have deadbeats due to the Obama economy stealing things. The boro budget went up didn't it. We paid more taxes right? So what is the correlation between paying higher taxes and higher crime? I don't follow. Shouldn't we have less crime if we are paying more???????????
The point about roads is they are replaced every 8-10 yrs. Turf is a luxury to whom? I think paying taxes for pensions is a luxury. I can't use somoene elses pension. I can use a turf field to play soccer when it rains.
Brian Kelly
2:25 pm on Saturday, December 8, 2012
Joe, My apologies if you think I'm mocking you. Keep those posts coming.