New Castle Park Restoration Got A Kickstart From A $100K State Grant

NEW CASTLE, NY — The pitch is back in shape at Amsterdam Park just in time for fall youth soccer — thanks in part to some help from Albany.

NYS Senator Pete Harckham took part Saturday in a ribbon-cutting for the Town of New Castle’s newly renovated Amsterdam Park playing fields, which underwent extensive repairs that were funded by a $100,000 state grant he managed to secure.

"Parks and recreation areas are so important for residents’ well-being, especially as people look to be outdoors more, and that means maintaining the infrastructure is a must for these well-used grounds and facilities," Harckham said. "The upgrades to the soccer fields at Amsterdam Park will benefit community members in so many ways. Supervisor Katz, the town board and the parks department have done an excellent job in bringing this important project to completion."

Harckham joined Town Supervisor Lisa Katz, Town Council Member Chris Hildenbrand, Recreation and Parks Superintendent Ike Kuzio and several young soccer players, coaches and parents for the ribbon-cutting event at the park.

Amsterdam Park, located on Hoags Cross Road, is home to two of the town’s three soccer fields. The fields serve as practice and "home" fields for the youth soccer program, which serves 25 teams with more than 400 children between the ages of 8-14. The fields are also used by a lacrosse program with around 40 players, ages 10 and 11, and by New Castle's summer camp program.

Because of heavy regular use of the fields throughout the year, the turf suffered to the extent that one of the fields was deemed unusable and needed to be closed off for athletic use after a child tripped on an exposed sprinkler head during a soccer match and was injured.

"Our youth soccer program is very important to the town, and we have a great need for usable playing fields," Town Supervisor Lisa Katz said. "The Amsterdam fields were in disrepair for quite a while, but with the state grant funding we were able to restore them. This truly brings vitality back to our soccer program, and we appreciate Senator Harckham's help in this effort."

New Castle used the state grant to completely renovate the damaged playing fields. The fields were skinned, fresh topsoil was installed and the fields were graded to completely cover the recessed sprinkler heads and allow proper drainage.

"The previous condition of the playing fields at Amsterdam Park were not conducive to safe athletic competition," said Ike Kuzio, Superintendent of the New Castle Recreation and Parks Department. "Now, it is."

The awarded grant funding was secured through the State and Municipal Facilities Program (SAM), which is the one of the grant programs administered by the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY) to support community and economic development.