Town Council Hears Pitch for Artificial Turf at High School

North Kingstown High School Principal Thomas W. Kenworthy and Athletic Director Howard Hague came to Monday’s North Kingstown Town Council meeting with a clear message:

It’s time for artificial turf at the high school.

The current playing surface can only be used for about 15 hours per week, they said, and that’s with perfect weather and ideal circumstances.

It can’t be used for practices or by middle school students and physical education classes, else the field would be unusable during games.

Meanwhile the district pays between $50,000 to $80,000 per year to maintain the field in labor, fertilizer, paint and maintenance of equipment costs.

And as a school that tries to offer a 21st century experience for its students, ”every year it gets more difficult for us on the athletic side,” Kenworthy said.

“Every year that goes by that we don’t find a way to do this in North Kingstown, two to three other communities find ways to do this,” Kenworthy said. “It’s not a luxury anymore. It’s a necessary way of life.”

The estimated cost of a new synthetic surface and rubberized running track would cost $1 million and last 12 to 15 years.

Newer artificial surfaces have come a long way in 10, even five years, Hague said, and would offer the district upwards of 60 hours per week of use in addition to improved safety.

A new surface could open the door to the field becoming a bona fide community resource, usable by middle school students, physical education classes and even rented out to outside groups to provide a revenue stream to offset maintenance costs.

“I think it would be phenomenal for kids all around the district,” Hague said.

Hague cited a study of more than 300 colleges that made the switch from natural turf to artificial surfaces and the decline in injuries was significant.

The school officials noted they weren’t asking the Town Council for any money. The plans are currently in the “infancy stage,” Hague said, and aside from preliminary conversation with the boosters club and a similar presentation to the School Committee, there’s much work to be done to get anything off the ground.

Hague said other communities have launched large-scale fundraising campaigns. In Narragansett, for example, a three-year campaign for a new field there has finally come to an end and they’re just about ready for it to be installed.

Working in town’s favor is the fact the existing field’s drainage system was designed to accommodate artificial turf, Hague said, though it’s unclear what kind of financial savings there would be until an engineering study is completed.

The plan would also include a new rubberized track surface. Hague said the existing track is six-years overdue for replacement and is now 12-years-old.

Arguably one of the hardest surfaces in the state, Hague said a pair of cleats can be worn out after just one race.

The town would also have to invest in grooming equipment to the tune of $8,000 to $20,000. Every one to four weeks, the field would be groomed during a 30 minute process. The field would also undergo a twice-yearly cleaning, which typically is outsourced.

But Hague stressed that the field could essentially pay for itself through rental income and user fees, potentially paying for its own replacement cost of $400,000 or so in a dozen years and offsetting annual maintenance costs. Simply not having to mow and paint it so often would save money in labor right away, he said.

“URI calls me all the time to use the field and I can’t let them,” Hague said.