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Date: 8/29/2023
LUDLOW — Ludlow High School Athletic Director Tim Brillo met with the School Committee at its Aug. 22 meeting to give an update on the track and field construction at Ludlow High School.
“We have a wonderful opportunity presented to us in terms of updating our athletic complex at Ludlow High School. We are trying to build for our students,” Superintendent Frank Tiano said.
The scheduled upgrades include a new synthetic turf for football and soccer, a new track, retrofit stadium lights to LED, Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant pathways and ramps, upgrades to the fences, new baseball, soccer and football scoreboards, a new sound system, improvements to the baseball field including netting, a new entry arch, security cameras, bottle filling stations, upgrades to the press box and a building for more storage.
There will also be a new press box behind home plate at the baseball field that will also have a place for storage.
“The layout itself will not change,” Brillo added, “But you will see as you look at the list of upgrades, we will have a brand new synthetic turf for both football and soccer will be lined that way with the turf. We will have a brand new eight-lane track which will allow us to host competitive meets, possibly championship meets where we can generate revenue which I think is extremely important.”
The proposed construction start date is mid-October.
Brillo said that he has stopped scheduling events after Oct. 12 at the field and will find different accommodations for teams to host their practices and/or games.
“By that time, we are almost at the end. We start getting into tournament time which we start using Lusitano Field. They have been kind and generous to us and then we luck out with this year with Thanksgiving being away with our football team would be at Palmer. Next year with a completely facility we could host.”
Brillo said they are also looking to see if varsity baseball games could be played at the field after upgrades and will also talk to the varsity coach to see if it’s viable to be played at.
Currently there is no fence stopping a ball hit to the outfield, but Brill is hoping the upgrades allow varsity baseball games to be played there.
He said, “We did push the home plate back about 10 feet. Down the left field line, the distance would be about 279 [feet] which is short, but we discussed putting about a 12-foot fence up with some netting above it which might give us an opportunity to play a game. Center field is plenty deep. Right field what we always dealt with the discus circle.”
Brillo added, “This is exciting. I am really excited about it. It is much needed. Our poor track team hasn’t been there for a home track meet in over five years. We are at the phase where it’s becoming a reality.”
After a site visit, the next steps are looking at bids from different companies.
“It’s exciting going through it and sitting down with the architects and planning a lot of the details that we had to go through. I think we are going to be the envy of most of Western Massachusetts,” Brillo said.
Mott MacDonald is the engineering firm who helped design the project.
Brillo said he worked closely with the different coaches as well to discuss what upgrades they wanted to see installed.
Brillo and Tiano said they will continue to discuss a maintenance plan to make sure after the complex is upgraded, it does not go to ruin.
Tiano said, “We already met with the town administrator [and] DPW. We actually had a field meeting in terms of brining in our maintenance, facilities, DPW, our Park and Recreation department to see who facilitates, who cuts grass, who does all this good stuff. Obviously, no one will need to cut the grass. It’s something we are conscious about in terms of who is taking out trash and maintaining the turf.”
Brillo said it is projected that the track should not have to be resurfaced for another 10 to 12 years once completed.
Town Administrator Marc Strange added that bids are due on Sept. 8, and it should be known shortly thereafter what the winning bid amount will be.
After that it could potentially be presented to the Board of Selectmen for the ARPA authorization at their Sept. 19 meeting.