With the Board of Selectmen (BOS) officially approving a contract, the town is now fully ready to move forward with an approximately $2 million replacement of the Guilford High School (GHS) artificial turf field, which is set to begin on June 17.

With bonding approved for the project at this year’s budget referendum, the BOS voted to approve a contract with H.I. Stone out of Southbury to go forward with a full replacement and upgrades of the field, track, and related infrastructure, which should be ready for basic use by the end of September, according to architect Luke McCoy, who worked on the design of the new field.

The entire project won’t be fully completed until the end of October, however, he added.

School Director of Facilities Cliff Gurnham has characterized the current field as beyond its reasonable lifespan and bordering on hazardous. A portion of the field was replaced last fall due to extreme wear, at a cost of around $15,000.

The previous field was 11 years old, according to Gurnham, and had a warranty of 8 years. According to McCoy, the new field will have a 20-year lifespan with a decreased maintenance need for the track.

Among the accessibility upgrades being implemented is an automated streaming camera system that will allow people at home to watch games live, along with ADA compliant pathways and a new audio system, according to McCoy.

Construction costs actually came in at around $1.8 million, according to McCoy, but funding for the project includes three contingencies based around “worst case scenarios” that added up to about $150,000.

One of the questions that had lingered around the project was what kind of “fill” would be used—the granules of sand, rubber, or other material that keeps turf springy and absorbent. Gurnham previously had said that some parents had expressed concerns about certain types of rubber, which contain carcinogenic materials.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency is currently engaged in a multi-agency study to determine potential dangers from the material, but data has so far not found links between crumb rubber and adverse health effects.

McCoy said the type of rubber is being used on the field is a coated styrene butadiene, which can offer some benefits as far as abrasiveness or drainage for a turf field. It is not the same fill used in the upper artificial turf field at GHS, according to McCoy, which is coated sand, a more expensive option overall.

The coated rubber was the cheapest option presented to the Standing Field Committee last fall, and McCoy told the Board of Education it was also the option that requires the least maintenance. He added that Clinton has used the same fill for more than a decade with no noted problems.