It Is Time To Build The Field

To the editor: In response to “One Field Will Not Solve the Problem,” the writer wants to talk about costs. Fine. Let’s talk about costs because the real lesson here is what delay costs a community.

When this project was introduced in 2021, the estimate was just over $17 million. Today, after years of delay, redesigns, procedural battles, and inflation, the project is being reintroduced at approximately $26 million.

That escalation is not the price of turf. It is the price of years of delay.

Construction inflation on Nantucket does not pause while projects are debated. Every year this project sat bottled up added millions in labor, materials, transportation, utility, and infrastructure costs. The community is now paying more for the same core needs that were identified more than a decade ago: safe athletic facilities, ADA-compliant grandstands, bathrooms, lighting, drainage, and year-round field and track access for students and the broader community.

And removing the turf field would not suddenly reduce this project to a fraction of its cost. The project still requires ADA-compliant grandstands, new bathrooms, lighting, drainage, utility upgrades, bleachers, accessibility improvements, concessions, and major site reconstruction. Once bathrooms are added, the campus must also connect to Town sewer and Town water infrastructure, substantial but necessary costs to bring the facility up to modern public standards.

This is not simply “a field.” It is a full athletic campus modernization project that will serve thousands of Nantucket students and residents over decades to come.

The core issue driving this project has always been usage. Our community should be aware that turf is not meant to eliminate grass fields. It is meant to protect our existing ones.

Nantucket’s existing grass athletic fields are severely overused, compacted, uneven, and increasingly difficult to maintain safely. The purpose of the synthetic turf field is not to replace grass entirely, but to reduce pressure on the remaining grass fields by approximately 40–50 percent, giving those natural fields a realistic chance to recover and remain playable.

Ironically, the title of Ms. Perry’s letter, “One Field Will Not Solve the Problem,” actually proves the point supporters have been making for years. Everyone now acknowledges there is a usage problem. The disagreement is about whether Nantucket is willing to implement one of the few realistic tools available to relieve it. While a partnership with the Land Bank will be awesome they have been clear, through public statements, they aren’t going to be able to take care of the school fields and they aren’t hosting MIAA-sanctioned sports. The school needs to solve the issue on their campus and provide safe and accessible fields that are walkable to the kids after school. We do not have the bus capability nor can we ask parents to leave their jobs to shuttle their kids to sports. We have to be realistic with our asks of the community and our schools.

Engineering and recreation studies across the country have consistently shown that one synthetic turf field can provide the equivalent usage capacity of multiple natural grass fields. Nantucket simply does not have unlimited land available to construct several additional grass athletic complexes on campus.

And we do not have to rely on theory. Marblehead, Massachusetts already lived through this exact debate.

In a 2020 public letter to the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, former Marblehead Recreation and Parks Vice Chairman Derek Norcross described how his community’s synthetic turf installation dramatically reduced wear and tear on surrounding grass fields. Before installing turf, Marblehead was spending tens of thousands annually on unexpected sod replacement and repairs caused by overuse. After installation, athletic groups voluntarily shifted usage away from grass surfaces, improving conditions across the entire system.

Today, Marblehead’s field is used year-round by student athletes, community groups, marching bands, and graduation ceremonies. Their experience demonstrated that one strategically placed synthetic field improved the health and longevity of every other field around it.

Meanwhile, Nantucket has been discussing this project since 2013. Thirteen years. An entire generation of student athletes has come and gone playing on deteriorating fields while adults continued debating whether to act.

At some point, planning must turn into building.

Town Meeting spoke decisively, voting 719–281 in favor of the project, while rejecting efforts to remove the turf field component. The community recognized this project for what it is: a long-overdue investment in student safety, accessibility, recreation, and year-round community use.

The debate has been had. The usage problem is real. The delays have already cost taxpayers millions.

It is time to build the field.

Sincerely,

Heather Woodbury, 
Mother to current school athletes
Local business owner
BoS Sports Medicine & Exercise Science; Minor: Sports Administration