High School Officials Seek Outdoor Athletic Improvements

Both North Kingstown High Principal Tom Kenworthy and Athletic Director Howard Hague started their talking points to the School Committee Tuesday emphasizing they were not looking for money. Rather, as Hague said, "We just want to open the discussion."

The biggest ticket item would be replacing the football field with artificial turf, a move six public schools have taken so far, including East Greenwich. Hague said a major reason for turf was safety, since the turf would provide a consistent playing surface. It could also bring teams back to NKHS for practices, since "overuse" of turf is not the same as with regular grass fields.

In addition, they noted, weather would be much less a factor with a turf field, and it would be cheaper once installed – because maintenance would be easier and it could be rented out to other groups. A turf field, including subsurface, would cost more than $500,000.

Financing for the turf and other improvements could come from the school district alone, a bond issue in collaboration with the town, or a capital campaign.

The track is also in need of repair/replacement, Hague argued. The company that carried out a resurfacing of the track six years ago did it improperly, he said. He told the committee that Cape & Island Tennis & Track was working up a proposal on both the track and the tennis courts, several of which have significant cracks.

"Six years ago, we had resurfacing done [of the track] and it was done improperly," Hague said. "They didn't put new rubber down.... We're looking at a pretty major track replacement now, instead of resurfacing what's there."

There's also an issue with the softball field, which is being used by lacrosse instead of softball because the grass infield is now longer the correct playing surface. Nowadays, softball infields are "skinned" or dirt.

The School Committee asked a few questions, but was largely supportive of trying to see how funds could be found to pay for the improvements. Based on the response, officials will do more research into costs, as well as possible collaboration with the town.