Board awards $1.19M bid for Lombardi field
New turf installation, track repairs included in project's first phase
By JESSICA SMITH Staff Writer

T he aging Vince Lombardi Stadium is one step closer to becoming the "Field of Dreams" envisioned by school officials.

The Old Bridge Board of Education awarded the contract for phase one of the project to Green Construction Inc. at its July 24 meeting. The football field and track are located at Carl Sandburg Middle School, Route 516, but are used by Old Bridge High School sports teams.

"If all the stars align, we should be done by November," school Business Administrator Nancy Mongon said of the construction.

Work is to begin in about two weeks and will consist of field excavation, drainage installation, laying down of synthetic turf, and installation of new lighting, according to Superintendent of Schools Simon Bosco. In addition, repairs will be made to the track in order to provide a temporary fix until it is completely replaced during phase two of the project, he said.

"There are repairs that we need to make," Bosco said. "There are large chunks coming off the track, so we need to repair that for the spring track season."

A bit of finagling was necessary in order to prevent the construction from disrupting the fall football schedule. Officials postponed a home game until later in the season, switching the earlier game to away, and made arrangements to hold two games on East Brunswick High School's field. With free use of that field, Old Bridge will only have to pay for usual expenses, such as ticket takers, lighting technicians and other such needs, Bosco said.

"We all try to cooperate with one another, because every once in a while, everyone goes under the wheels," Bosco said.

Lines will be built into the field to accommodate five different sports — football, soccer, boys and girls lacrosse, and girls field hockey. That way, teams from each of the sports can have use of the field from time to time, in order to enjoy the experience of playing under the lights of a stadium, Bosco said. In addition to the sports teams, the marching band will continue its use of the field.

In light of recent reports regarding the possible dangers of lead content in synthetic turf, school officials consulted with the New Jersey Department of Education (DOE) before going ahead with the project.

Older versions of the field surface contained small amounts of lead that had the potential to be consumed by users by transfer from hand to mouth, according to a report by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, but even those older turfs did not contain levels that would pose a threat, they stated.

"The new monofilament turfs do not have those levels," Bosco said.

Still, all bidders were required to comply with specifications set by the DOE regarding turf materials, Bosco said.

Green Construction was the lowest responsible bidder for the project, coming in at $1,187,000. Officials allocated a total of $1.4 million for the work in this year's school budget. While the bid came in lower than the allotment, the leftover funds provide some assurance of seeing the project through to completion, Mongon said.

"You never know what can happen when they put shovel to ground," she said.

Early this year, school officials had worked on striking a shared services agreement with the township to fund the stadium refurbishment. Mayor Jim Phillips endorsed a plan that would have used over $1 million in impact fees from Atlantic Realty developers placed into an escrow account for a school or community project.

While Phillips saw Lombardi field as a perfect use for the funds, some on the council said the money should be used for something at Woodhaven Village, the development for which the funds were required. Although residents there might not need any further amenities or facilities presently, some said, the future could hold a need for a new school or some other type of facility as the families there grow.

As a compromise with the school district, the township offered the services of its professionals to help in the project's planning and implementation.

"We had the township's director of recreation [Tom Badcock] involved in every step of the process," Bosco said.

If all goes well, phase two will commence sometime next year, according to officials. Along with a new track, it will include a comfort station, consisting of restrooms and a snack bar.

"Everybody is very excited about this project, and we're hoping to come up with some sort of kickoff event," Bosco said.

According to Bosco, instead of having a traditional groundbreaking celebration at the start of construction, officials may opt to wait until school starts so students can take part in the long-awaited festivities.