Central Regional Set To Debut New Track And Turf Project On Thanksgiving

For the first time all season, the Central Regional Golden Eagles will play a game at home on Thanksgiving Day on a brand new turf field.

School officials will unveil the new field and a new track, with a ten-lane straightaway and eight lanes around the track. Central Regional and Toms River Regional schools are the only districts in Ocean County with turf fields.

The final cost for the project - which also includes renovated tennis courts and two field event areas - was $2.2 million. Central used $1.3 million in School Choice funds and $500,000 in maintenance reserves to fund the work, Schools Superintendent Triantafillos Parlanpanides said.

“It gave the district a facelift without raising taxes or going out for another referendum,” he said. ”We were also able to lease purchase the turf field, so the remaining $400,000 will be paid off in two years by School Choice revenue coming in.”

The new facilities will be used by the middle school and high school physical education classes and all sports teams. Central will also host the Eagle Relays - a track competition between all fifth and sixth graders in Ocean County - on May 2, 2015, he said.

“We are also going to be holding the Armed Forces Track meet between our Army JROTC, Southern Regional which has Air Force, Manchester which has Marines, Lakewood which has Army and Toms River which has a Club Army ROTC,” Parlapanides said.

School Choice money is additional funds given to a school district if it is a Choice school. Central Regional currently has 92 students attending Central from the following districts- Lacey, Toms River, Lakewood, Point Pleasant Beach, Manchester, Brick and Pinelands, Parlapanides said.

“We have currently collect $5,400,000 in additional aid through School Choice, which was used for the maintenance of the building, new curriculum books, technology, paid for the Army JROTC Program, and the Humanities Academy partnered with Georgian Court University,” he said.