Funding and Design Progressing for High School Track and Field

Assistant Town Manager Dave Ziomek and Capital Projects Manager Bob Peirent provided a brief update regarding the high school track and field project (see here for video, timestamp 1:09 – 1:25) at the meeting of the Amherst School Committee on September 24, 2024.  The project would provide a new, reoriented, fully ADA accessible, competition level track and field plus refurbishment of an adjacent practice field. The plan specifies that the fields be natural grass. Design work continues and permitting/approvals will be pursued at the end of this month at the Conservation Commission, Design Review Board, and Planning Board. 

Secured funding for the project currently stands at $3,473,840 with cost estimates at schematic design totaling $4,405,947. The plan was to meet the more than $930,000 shortfall with Community Preservation Act (CPA) funding from the four member towns of the region. The Community Preservation Committees (CPC) of Pelham and Shutesbury have recommended the approval of $99,000 and $136,000, respectively, to their Town Meetings that will meet this fall. The Leverett CPC declined to entertain an off-cycle application so the $176,000 requested of them will not be voted on until spring 2025. The Amherst CPA committee approved $800,000 this past summer but Ziomek reported that the Amherst Town Council did not want to take up authorization of these funds until after the other regional towns had made their commitments known. Cost estimates based on construction documents will be prepared in anticipation of bidding in December or January. 

School Committee member Deb Leonard (Amherst) suggested that the Hurricane Boosters be approached again for additional funding. A little over $100,000 has been released from funds originally restricted to a project that specified artificial turf, which is no longer part of the plan. Superintendent Xiomara Herman encouraged Leonard to ask the new leadership if they would be willing them to reach back out to their donors to see if they would be willing to contribute to the current project.

Ziomek and Peirent indicated that they would report back to the Regional School Committee as the design, cost, and funding become more fully developed over the next couple months.