Lunenburg School Committee seeks nearly $200,000 to begin fixing aging track and turf field.

LUNENBURG -- The Finance Committee got its first look Thursday at a Special Town Meeting warrant article that would fund engineering work toward rebuilding the track and turf field at Lunenburg Middle High School.

HIGH SCHOOL -- The School Committee has submitted an article asking the town to raise and appropriate $195,830 for professional engineering and related services tied to "proposed reconstruction and improvement" of the Middle High School track and turf field facility. Finance Committee Chair Joshua Beland, speaking from his board's role in reviewing the article rather than as the submitter, said the request stems from a facility assessment done with ARPA funds in spring 2025 that found the turf worn past its useful life and the track deteriorating at 20 years old, with safety issues at the site. He said the engineering funding is expected to be roughly 10 percent of the full project, which he estimated at "somewhere in the vicinity of $2 million," and would bring the project to bid-ready documents. One committee member raised the idea of having engineers also study alternative locations for a new turf field rather than only rehabbing the existing site. Members also debated whether the project should run through the town's regular capital planning process or be handled separately, as was done previously for Marshall Park. The article is scheduled for further Finance Committee discussion on Oct. 8 and a public hearing on Oct. 22, ahead of a Special Town Meeting planned for Nov. 17.

Compiled from team and league reports, reader submissions, and local coverage.