LUDLOW — Just over a year after the Board of Selectmen approved $4.8 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds to pay for a new football and soccer field and track at Ludlow High School, the ribbon was cut on the space during halftime at the Oct. 11 football game against South Hadley High School.
Before the project, Ludlow High School’s athletic facilities were worn, having been installed about 50 years ago. Of the previous grass field, Goncalves said, “It wasn’t maintained over the years. The field was OK, but it was actually the field of last resort for the soccer team.”
He continued, “The track became dilapidated and unusable.” He further explained the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association, the organization that oversees high school athletics in the state, had shut down the track for four or five years.
“Our track team has not had a home meet in five years, so we’re going to celebrate their first meet in the spring,” said Board of Selectmen Chair Derek DeBarge
Upgrades to the facility included a synthetic turf field, a new track surrounding the field, Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant pathways and ramps, new LED stadium lights and sound system, scoreboards for baseball, soccer and football, upgraded fencing and baseball field netting, an improved press box and security cameras.
Despite construction by West Springfield-based design firm Mountain View Landscapes lasting less than a year, the project was a long time coming.
“We tried a ballot initiative in [2019]. It was turned down by the voters,” Goncalves said. “In [2019], $1.5 million would have been a lot better [than $4.8 million] but I don’t think anybody knew that things would go up 300% and that COVID would have the effect on materials and construction that it has. And then when we got the ARPA money, we immediately, as a board, said, ‘We got to give the kids a facility. It’s embarrassing.’”
Goncalves said he expects the track in the field to last a decade before needing “any serious amount of money” with “regular, fairly inexpensive maintenance.”
DeBarge added, “We have a plan. We’re putting money every year into an account. When it needs to be replaced, [we] will be able to do it without going to the taxpayer.” The account will be funded through ticket sales and what Goncalves called a “small” expenditure in the yearly budget. Ludlow High School also has a football booster club and the Lion’s Den Athletic Association that raise money for athletic needs. Additionally, the field will be rented out for events when not in use by the school.
