HOBOKEN – At this past week’s Board of Education meeting, school board members decided to dedicate $814,803 for a turf replacement project at John F. Kennedy Stadium.
The multi-use field is two blocks from Hoboken High School. It accommodates a variety of sports played by public school kids: football, softball, baseball, soccer, and the newly-added lacrosse. The stadium is currently the only athletic field owned by Hoboken’s BOE. Outside vendors also make use of it on occasion.
Board Trustee Peter Biancamano said the BOE’s finance committee will next decide whether the project is paid for upfront or timetabled out through a lease purchase for as many as five years. He prefers the latter, for it allows for funds to be allocated to other projects.
“In my opinion we should do a lease purchase option [for the project] because it’ll fund more educational programs such as science and robotics labs and other facility-needs such as the Wallace gym, the field house, and any number of other things,” said Biancamano after the meeting this past week.
Beaten down since its last resurfacing around 2006, JFK Stadium’s field will be reinforced with a cork layer that makes for a cooler field. In the summer the field is known to reach high degrees, making for vexing conditions for sports.
The field is expected to last over ten years. – Steven Rodas
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