Hempfield Area High School may replace four grass athletic fields with synthetic turf, Superintendent Mark Holtzman said.
The district is eyeing its baseball, softball and multipurpose grass fields for replacement, Holtzman said. The school board will vote on the matter next week.
Because of snowmelt and spring rainfall, the district’s sports teams often are unable to use the grass fields for practices and games, Holtzman said.
“They’re just so hard to get utilization out of,” he said. “You can imagine — trying to get a field prepared right now is nearly impossible.”
As temperatures above 50 degrees are in Western Pennsylvania’s forecast this week, the 10 to 12 inches of snow that blanketed the region last month continue to melt. Additionally, Pittsburgh typically receives just shy of 18.5 inches of rain each spring.
At least one of the district’s more than 20 school-affiliated sports teams use the high school’s grass fields daily in the fall, spring and summer, said Athletic Director Brandon Rapp.
“Our grass fields are heavily used and simply don’t get enough recovery time,” Rapp said via email. “Weather, drainage and wear from multiple sports have made it increasingly difficult to maintain consistent playing conditions.”
Vince DeAugustine, chair of the school board’s buildings and grounds committee, said the district has faced high maintenance costs with its grass fields in recent years.
“The fields under discussion are high-use competition and practice fields that currently experience significant wear and frequent closures due to weather,” DeAugustine said via email. “These are fields already designated for athletics, physical education (and) extracurriculars and the intent is to improve usability and reliability, not to increase field count.”
Holtzman estimates the high school’s spring sports teams move about half of their practices to the indoor gym because of wet field conditions.
The project could cost about $5 million, DeAugustine said, but a final pricetag has yet to be determined.
Of that, about $283,000 could be used to hire McKinley Architecture and Engineering to complete design work. McKinley has offices in Marshall Township and Downtown Pittsburgh.
“I think this number must be evaluated against long-term savings from reduced maintenance, fewer field repairs and less need for field reconstruction every few years,” DeAugustine said.
If approved by the school board, the fields would be installed this summer — the same time the district plans to begin its long-awaited high school renovation.
The district is collecting bids for the renovation, which could cost about $150 million. District officials aim to bring the bid results before the school board for a vote March 30, Assistant Superintendent Matthew Conner said.
The final phase of the renovation — slated for completion in June 2029 — will include work on the building’s parking lot.
“We don’t want to consider this turf conversation after the high school has been completed because all of our parking lots are going to be repaved,” Holtzman said, “and we don’t want to have heavy trucks and traffic up there (after that).”
The school board will vote at 7 p.m. Feb. 23 at the administration building, 4347 Route 136 in Hempfield.
