Barrington turf talk takes a turn toward expansion

Fear not, overworked sod at Victory Field help is on the way.

A committee of about two dozen people are focused on replacing the natural grass surface at one of the busiest athletic fields in town with artificial turf.

The volunteer group has been meeting with officials from Gale Associates, Inc. of Weymouth, Mass., which has spearheaded artificial turf athletic field projects across the region, and most recently worked on the new facility at Portsmouth High School.

Dr. Alex Robertson, a Barrington resident and an orthopedic surgeon, has helped organize the recent local push for an artificial turf surface at Victory Field.

During a meeting with the school committee last spring, Dr. Robertson told officials that todays artificial turf was safer and more durable than regular grass. He said he had witnessed the rough condition of Victory Field late in the fall season after a friends daughter had torn a ligament in her knee in a non-contact injury while playing there.

The school committee voted 5-0 to pursue a plan to replace the grass with artificial turf, and since then organizers have been considering all the options available for a new Victory Field, including expanding the facility.

Most recently, the group decided to explore a plan that would increase the size of the field so that when a new artificial surface is installed it would accommodate not just football games but also soccer, lacrosse and field hockey. Dr. Robertson said that while soccer and lacrosse teams at the high school currently use Victory Field for some home games, the dimensions of the playing surface fail to meet national guidelines for those sports.

For safety reasons, no one should be playing on the field except football, said Dr. Robertson, adding that the field is too narrow for soccer and lacrosse.

But a larger project would result in a larger price tag it was initially thought that the work would cost about $800,000 but the expanded project would likely double that figure. Dr. Robertson said his committee will have a better idea of the estimated cost for the work in about two weeks.

According to reports, Portsmouths project (it included a new field, track and eight tennis courts) cost about $2.3 million, while Narragansett is spending about $3.2 million for a similar project. Both towns are combining privately-raised money with taxpayer funds to cover the costs.

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Barrington turf talk takes a turn toward expansion