The Owego-Apalachin School District is looking at installing a new, multipurpose artificial turf field at Christy J. Valvo Stadium at no cost to taxpayers. The FieldTurf surface would be able to host home football, soccer, field hockey, and lacrosse games. The existing natural grass surface needs to be replaced, and field turf would cost about the same, according to Director of Athletics Andy Buchsbaum. He says an artificial surface would save the district more than $300,000 in maintenance costs over a 10-year period, as well as give the district the opportunity to host more sporting events, community events, and physical education classes nearly year round. Leftover funds from FEMA would be used to pay for the project. The district will wait to finish the maintenance building construction before making a final decision. If approved, they hope to have it ready for the fall sports season next year.
