New EGHS Artificial Turf Nearly Ready for Use

by | Aug 2, 2022

Above: A drone photo of Carcieri Field in July, with the Avenger logo in place. Photos by Chuck Nadeau (find all his photos at chuckn.com).

The new artificial turf on Carcieri Field is laid and looks good. It will remain off-limits for now though. Community Services Director Andy Wade said he’s hoping for a good rain or two to help settle the rubber “crumb” that helps provide extra cushion for athletes. And he said the field should be used first by EGHS athletes. It’s already August, it won’t be long!

Here are some photos taken by Chuck Nadeau in later July. Chuck has been chronicling the turf replacement (find previous posts HERE and HERE).

The new turf w/logo.

Large bags of the rubber crumb added to provide more cushion.

The Avenger logo.

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Micheline Nilsen
Micheline Nilsen
August 3, 2022 2:45 pm

It is unfortunate that this community places so much emphasis on athletics and so little on students with special needs. I was very hopeful that the election of Nicole Bucka to the School Board would encourage addressing this discrepancy, But lo, and behold the first thing she did was provide public support for the new athletic field.
There is more to education than athletics but with the current revolving door for school administrators, little progress is being made for students who need solid, consistent support to reach their educational potential in the classroom.

Nicole Bucka
Nicole Bucka
August 4, 2022 5:20 pm

Hello Ms. Nilson, I am sorry to hear you are disappointed. Please feel free (always) to email me with your thoughts at [email protected]. In my first month as a School Committee member, I advocated that EG use some of our town’s American Rescue Plan funds to address the field because its wear and tear had become a liability. https://eastgreenwichnews.com/opinion-how-about-federal-funds-for-carcieri-field/. I asked our Town Manager and Councilors to consider using the one time COVID relief funds to address this community infrastructure project to a) prevent the cost from becoming part of the school district Maintenance of Effort funding obligations (forcing the district to maintain that year to year) and b) to prevent any potential liability for both the town and school district furthering our financial challenges. The town, given the many departments infrastructure needs, did not go that way. Next, the School Committee’s Finance Subcommittee (with committee members Tim Munoz, Eugene Quinn, and Will Hangan) worked with the town and district lawyers using data regarding how much the town uses the fields (e.g., recreation programs) and how much the school district uses the fields (e.g., school athletics) to inform a fair cost share between town and school district. This was shared in the 5/3/22 meeting notes and video, if you’d like to see/hear the committee discussion. The School Committee voted unanimously 5:0 to approve the decision to pay for half of the cost with fund balance with clearly defined responsibilities between town and school district moving forward. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eP_92oTNMQa999TSIjCLT7_jOzGekV3g/view?usp=sharing
I was one of five who voted ‘yea’ because this (I’d argue fair) compromise ended a decade of back-and-forth ‘passing the buck’ so we/the School Committee can keep our focus on the school system and supporting students rather than fields. This agreement also cut our district costs accomplishing this in half during a unique time where we actually had the fund balance to do so – an appropriate use of fund balance (i.e., a one time cost) with a clear agreement for moving forward. That is why I supported the decision.

Micheline Nilsen
Micheline Nilsen
August 4, 2022 8:10 pm

Thank you for your detailed response.
I cannot help thinking of how much support could have been provided for special needs students with all that funding.

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