KP School Committee Hears Stadium Turf Update

The King Philip School Committee heard on update on the potential of an artificial field at the high school's stadium at its Monday meeting.

Frequent use of the current grass field has eroded its quality, according to school officials.

Rich Harwood, president of the KP Gridiron Club, said everything was good to go on paper, and that things were dependent on financing. He said the turf committee originally intended to present the project at the spring town meeting, but that presentation would likely be delayed until fall.

Harwood said the committee was looking at the legality of donations to the effort.

"We're looking at in-kind donations," Harwood said. "When you peel back the [turf] carpet, most of the materials are made within three miles of KP."

Harwood said the committee was also looking to anticipate the issues that might come up when the project is presented to the public.

"We're looking at the arguments, pro and con, for when it comes time to package this for the three communities," he said.

Harwood said three different companies had been examined.

"Right now, [the fields] are very, very popular — it's a supply and demand thing," he said. "I still think that pricing can be negotiated with the companies themselves."

He said he believed increased usage would justify the higher cost of a synthetic field.

"The thing I found shocking is that there are literally teens and organizations that will never play on the field," he said. "There are students who will come in to KP, play a sport and never play a game on campus."