It has been five years since the $1.3 million turf field at Glover was installed to replace the old grass field. Now, Pelham’s Board of Education believes it is time to bring some attention to the smaller fields that surround this popular game and practice spot.

On February 5, the Board of Education approved the bid for an in-field turf resurfacing of Friendship Field, which lies adjacent to Glover, and is home to PMHS’ girls softball teams. The project is still in progress but will definitely be finished for next years softball season.

Previous public bids were held in May and August of 2017 in an attempt to resurface Friendship field with brand new turf, but both bids yielded unfavorable results, landing contracts $100,000 over the set budget.

With one try left, facilities management pushed a final bid in December of 2017 which passed. The total expenses will amount to $200,000, fitting the budget more adequately.

The project originally consisted of not only resurfacing the field with turf, but also replacing the fencing that surrounded the field. This aspect of the project, however, cost $30,000, so the fence replacement was cut and the old one was deemed “competitively acceptable.”

Turfing Friendship Field was an action that arose because of the tedious maintenance that the current grass field requires. Additionally, the softball diamond that lies on Friendship Field is illegitimate as its infield is grass, not dirt. Though playing on this new field will be an adjustment, PMHS softball players are excited for the change.

“It’s going to take some time to get used to because the ball comes a lot faster on turf, but besides that, it will be beneficial,” the captain of the girls varsity softball team, senior Kiera O’Connor said. “The field will always be ready, especially if it rains. Plus, the old field has a lot of holes and lips between the grass and the dirt so the turf will fix that issue.”

Friendship Field took priority in resurfacing even though the front fields at the Glover complex also aren’t in the best condition. The reason for this was that the girls varsity softball team competes at a higher level than the little league teams who play on the front fields. Additionally, though the boys varsity baseball team’s field also needs to be resurfaced that project would be almost double the cost and is, therefore, something that cannot be budgeted at the moment. Friendship Field is not nearly as large and is in poor condition, making it the priority.