Groundbreaking Of Contentious Parsippany High School Turf Fields Set for This Week

After 20 years of consideration and debate, Parsippany Hills and Parsippany High schools are about to get new turf fields on their campuses.

A groundbreaking ceremony for each school has been scheduled for two separate days this week, with the first coming on Tuesday, May 12 at 5:30 p.m. at Parsippany High School’s Redhawk Football field, and the second on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at the Parsippany Hills High School’s Viking football field.

The improvements have been a contentious issue in Parsippany for years, culminating in a $7.7 million referendum being defeated in 2012 by 628 votes (2,372 no votes, 1745 yes votes).

Despite that, an AdHoc committee of board members and administrators was formed to devise a plan that would still deliver the fields but in a way to significantly reduce costs.

Fast forward two years, and the board of education approved a $2,533,000 project that would bring the fields to fruition, along with a handful of lighting improvement at Parsippany High School. That total cost has been approved for the 2015-16 school year capital budget.

The total cost at Parsippany High School comes to $1,408,000, which includes turf field construction, track resurface, and project cost. The total cost at Parsippany Hills High School is $1,125,000, which includes $900,000 for turf field construction and $225,000 for project cost.

The project is expected to be complete by the second week of September, according to the Board of Education’s outline.

The school district claims as a result of the artificial fields, there will be an annual savings of $110,000 for former field maintenance costs, with a cost of $300,000 to $400,000 every eight-to-12 years to resurface the turf fields.

What do you think, Parsippany? Should the project have come to fruition? Is it a good move for Parsippany? Tell us in the comments.

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