Politics & Government

New TMHS Athletic Field Construction To Continue As Planned

Field, located adjacent to new high school, is expected to be completed by July 1.

Despite the failure to land a Parkland Grant, construction of the new Tewksbury high School athletic field will go on as scheduled.

The only difference is, the field will be natural grass.

Back in October, Tewksbury voters had approved spending $750,000 to install artificial turf on the new field. However, the vote was contingent upon the town landing a Parkland Grant, worth as much as $400,000, to help pay for it.

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Town officials recently learned they had been bypassed for the grant. Supporters of the artificial turf proposal say they were encouraged by the feedback they received and will re-apply in 2013. However, Phase 2 of the new Tewksbury High construction project called for the parking lot and the field to completed by next summer, well before the next round of grant recipients are announced.

Town Manager Richard Montuori said the language of the Town Meeting article and the will of the voters would be respected. He said the field will be constructed with a grass surface.

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"If the money can be raised later, we'll look at installing the artificial turf," said Montuori. "The project can't be delayed."

Phase 2 of the high school project will also include construction of a 5-court tennis complex near the school building. Residents voted that the tennis courts will be built using Community Preservation funds.


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