New artificial field for Holy Cross called a win-win

A new $3.7-million artificial turf sports field is planned for Holy Cross Secondary School now that city councillors want to team up with the Catholic school board to split the construction costs.

On Monday, councillors gave preliminary approval to a plan to build the field with the Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington Catholic District School Board.

The field will be lit with LED lights and it will also have an eight-lane running track.

It could potentially be done and ready for use in fall 2019. The idea is to create a new field that could be used by both students and the community.

“I think any time you give kids a place to play is money wellspent,” said Coun. Dean Pappas. “We’re busting at the seams, very often, for field time…. This is a great thing for us to do.”

Coun. Lesley Parnell said she was happy with the project too.

“It’s just win, win, win,” she said.

The cost to build it would be split 50-50 between the school board and the city, states a new city staff report. That means the cost to the city would be $1,855,000.

It won’t be the first time the city has done a project like this one: the city had a similar partnership with the school board

when it helped build a sports field at Thomas A. Stewart Secondary School in 2013.

This new field at Holy Cross will be nearly identical (except it won’t have steeplechase facilities).

On Monday at City Hall, councillors heard a presentation at their committee meeting from landscape architect John George of Burlington.

The school board would like to use John George Associates Inc. — its firm of record — to design the field (total cost for design: $224,577).

George told councillors that artificial turf fields are safe and predictable to use, and can be used later in the fall than a natural field.

He also said artificial turf has environmental advantages: it doesn’t need to be tended by gaspowered mowers, for example, and doesn’t need irrigation or fertilizer.

At the meeting on Monday, councillors voted to hire the firm without a competitive process.

Still, it’s still not a done deal: councillors will later have to also agree to put aside the money for construction in the 2019 budget (municipal budget talks take place in January).

If that all takes place, construction could start in spring 2019 and be done for the following fall.