Track Renovation Project is on Budget and On Schedule
Renovation of the Amherst Regional High School track, August 2025. The project is reported to be on schedule and on budget. Photo: amherstma.gov
The Amherst-Pelham Regional School Committee received an update on the track-and-field renovation at Amherst Regional High School at their meeting on August 26, 2025. Bob Peirent, Special Capital Projects Coordinator for the Town of Amherst, and Dave Ziomek, Assistant Town Manager, provided the following updates:
- The project is on schedule and on budget.
- Conversations are ongoing between school and town staff about sharing maintenance responsibilities.
- The contractors have a lot of experience with these kinds of installations and have been suggesting tweaks to the design, one of which was to switch to a better drainage system for the field inside the track.
- The western field will now be sodded (rather than seeded) which should make it playable by spring. It will be installed with drainage and irrigation.
- The wood stairs between the parking area and the field will be replaced with granite.
- The project is expected to be largely completed by the end of October The contractors are encouraging the district to keep the area closed off until spring to protect the sodded and seeded areas.
RSC member William Sherr (Pelham) wanted to know what the source of water will be for the irrigation system. Peirent indicated that city water will be used initially but that it can be converted to well water which former Interim Superintendent Doug Slaughter had gotten authorization to install but this work has not been scheduled and will not be part of this project. Peirent said that will be a decision for the district to make in the future.
I support the changes to the track and field project but I have concerns about two things reported by Ziomek and Peirent: 1) the statements made about the drainage for the field inside the track and 2) the lack of a clear commitment to maintenance of these fields by professionals.
Here’s a transcript of what Peirent said about the drainage:
“Cataldo came forward at a no cost proposal to say we can make this thing better. Our original design on the turf field inside of the track, as a cost savings measure, instead of putting in hard drainage piping, we were putting in sand wicks through the sod. Basically, little sand drains would get punched down so that the the the surface water would drain through the sod material down into the underlying material. Cataldo looked at it and said, you know, we really think (and they have a turf consultant and agronomist that they work with) that it would be better to come in with a drainage system. And they said for no additional cost, we recommend you go in and you install a fairly conventional herring bone type drainage system with 2-in-1 perforated pipe all the way through the field. SLR said, you know, that’s what they had originally had in mind for the design, but we didn’t think we had the budget to be able to do that. So they came up with a solution that they thought was more cost effective but perhaps in the long term not as good of a solution.”
Why on earth would Peirent have authorized a suboptimal drainage system in the first place, especially when that was one of the primary concerns about the existing field. Also, why wasn’t the RSC informed about that ‘cost savings measure’ decision? They (and we as a community) had been reassured that this new facility was going to be topnotch.
As for the maintenance, this has also been a well known concern for a long time. What is the hold up for locking in a contract for professionals with experience in managing athletic fields? No specifics were offered – only that a lot of people were talking about it. Ziomek said the following:
“We’re working on that. We’ve had at least two meetings on that and larger conversations about maintaining all the fields and facilities for the region. So we’re working with the facilities director, DPW staff and myself. We’re all around the table. Shannon [Bernacchia, School Finance Director] has also participated. Nyby [Douglas, Chief Compliance and Procurement Officer] and other staff from the from the Superintendent team have have all participated. So we’re okay. Those are ongoing. We we have some draft documents. So, we’re we’re working. It’s a big conversation”.
I hope the continued lack of certainty in locking in the funds and contracts for professional services doesn’t signify an intention to try to do this in-house instead. This is going to be a terrific $4.5 million facility and it needs to be taken care of properly from the start.