The surface was squishy enough to play on safely, but because it was good old green grass, not synthetic turf, it was cost-effective enough for the Baldwin community to afford.
I ran over to the Baldwin field on Monday night after work. I walked on the field. I climbed to the top of the bleachers to get an overhead view of it. It was, in my opinion, the nicest high-school football field I'd ever seen -- and as a one-time high-school track coach, I've seen many a football field.
By now, I'm sure you're well aware that the big debate in the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District of late has been whether to install sod (real grass) or artificial turf (fake grass) on the Calhoun, Kennedy and Mepham football fields.
Here's what brought me to Baldwin, which laid sod on its football field a year ago:
Last Friday, I got a call from a Bellmore-Merrick Central School District official: I should check out Baldwin's field. The official had heard from another Central official that Baldwin had installed sod, the grass didn't take and the field had gotten torn up during play.
Hmm. I wonder where that rumor originated. I can't say it began with Jeff Rosenblum, a Merrick resident, Calhoun father and the most vociferous proponent of artificial turf. But earlier in the week, Rosenblum had sent me a letter to the editor, which I published in last week's issue: "Says artificial turf is needed." He wrote, "One of our neighboring high schools installed sod on its football field, and now it is unusable because the grass didn't take properly."
In parenthesis, Rosenblum had written "Baldwin" next to "one of our neighboring high schools." I cut "Baldwin" out because he had sent his letter in late, and I had no time to confirm the veracity of his assertion. But I did want to give Rosenblum, a member of the Calhoun Sports Boosters Association, his say, especially seeing how I'd written about the turf issue in this column for four straight weeks. So I allowed the letter to go through and figured I'd check out Baldwin High School later. When I got the Central District official's call, I knew I had to look into the matter.
I started last Friday by chatting with the editor of the Baldwin Herald, Tony Rifilato. I asked whether he had heard about any problems with Baldwin High's sod field. No, he said, adding that residents usually call if there are facilities troubles at the schools. Rifilato phoned a Baldwin Board of Education member. Had he heard about any problems? No, none.
I called Baldwin's facilities director, Mike Sheehan, on Monday. Were there any problems? No, none. The district had shut the field down for a week at the start of the spring sports season to perform "minor maintenance," Sheehan said. The field needed to be core-aerated; that is, workers had to run a special machine over it to punch one-inch holes in the sod to help maintain proper drainage. The extended winter pushed that maintenance back a week or so later than Sheehan would have liked.
But, he noted, "The condition of the field is fine. The kids are playing on it this week. With proper maintenance, he added, Baldwin's sod field should last "for quite a while."
I decided I had to check this football field out myself. And having seen Baldwin's field firsthand, I can say that I would be proud to call it my own. A modern drainage system rings the entire field. Sheehan said the district had the field pitched down its center so rainwater flows off the field into the oblong drain. Imagine that. No more ponds of water in the center of the field.
There were also no barren patches, no grass clumps, no weeds, dandelions or crab grass. The field felt nice underfoot, not compacted and hard like Calhoun's field.
In his letter, Rosenblum brought up the New York City Parks Department, which is installing 100 or more (no one says how many more) artificial-turf fields at a cost of $150 million over the next five years. Let's see, $150 million divided by 100 is $1.5 million per field. That's funny, I thought the Central District's architect, Kevin Smith, said the fields would cost $990,000 each. Let's not forget that Smith failed to list the "fees and contingencies" associated with designing and eventually disposing of an artificial-turf field. So, yes, the cost of a synthetic field can be well above $1 million. In fact, the fees and contingencies for an artificial-turf field alone can run as high or higher than a new sod field with drains. According to Smith, a sod field costs $150,000. Price, Sheehan said, was among the primary reasons that Baldwin went with sod.
Rosenblum also made clear his plan to pay for the artificial fields that he and about a dozen others have proposed -- at least the fields' maintenance, that is. He wants to charge local soccer, football and lacrosse leagues to use "premier facilities." A Pennsylvania school district does that; it charges $270 per hour to outside groups that play on its synthetic-turf field. (I wrote about the district in an earlier column.) Rosenblum would also like to charge parents to watch their children play sports. All of this would come on top of a significant tax increase for what? To pay for plastic grass.
Rosenblum was kind to offer his suggestions. But his kids will all have graduated from Calhoun by this June. As a parent whose children are just starting in the Bellmore-Merrick education system (and who love to play soccer), I say thanks but no thanks.
Bellmore-Merrick should take a cue from Baldwin and install sod fields at each of its three high schools and two middle schools to make sure our kids have safe, playable fields that, oh yes, also look good -- for the college scouts who Rosenblum worries might stop by on occasion.
Comments? SBrinton@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 203.
