King William High hopes artificial turf field would help expand sports programs – Daily Press

KING WILLIAM — King William County Public Schools plans to transform its high school football field from grass to artificial turf for $1.75 million to expand its sports programs and bring in new revenue.

King William High School currently hosts junior varsity and varsity football and soccer and is setting up a varsity field hockey team. It is considering a lacrosse program in the future.

“This turf field, if considered tonight, would allow us to pretty much play on this field seven days a week at all times,” Finance Director Staci Longest told the King William Board of Supervisors on Oct. 21.

The benefits of synthetic turf include significantly less maintenance expenses, Longest said. “We would not have to seed, fertilize, sand, and topsoil on a regular basis. We would not have to paint,” she said.

An artificial turf field would also allow teams to play in all weathers and bring in additional revenue to the county via tournaments. “It definitely brings in a revenue to the county that can help us sustain ourselves,” Longest said.

Materials such as sand and Bermuda grass from the high school sports field would be moved to the sports field at Hamilton-Holmes Middle School.

The school currently has $1.1 million left in bond funding and interest of $150,000 and can offset the rest of the project costs from reserve capital, Longest said.

“This is an opportunity to really move King William forward when it comes to the use of our fields and our facilities and can put us in the forward section,” she said.

Longest said many neighboring school districts now have turf fields.

After questions from a board member, Longest suggested a new school auditorium was no longer an option at present because it would take out too many parking spaces.

Longest appeared before the board about a month after education officials in neighboring New Kent made a case to the Board of Supervisors for a $2.3 million upgrade to the New Kent High School athletic complex. The upgrade would involve replacing grass with artificial turf.

King William’s Board of Supervisors unanimously supported a motion allowing the school district to use remaining bond funds for the turf project. The board also supported the purchasing of a new $155,000 school bus from capital reserves.

David Macaulay, [email protected]