The Martha’s Vineyard Commission (MVC) is meeting on Thursday, June 24, at 7 pm, to deliberate on, and likely approve or deny, Phase One of the proposed Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School (MVRHS) athletic campus overhaul.
Last year, the MVC began its review of the proposed project as a development of regional impact (DRI).
For Islanders who have followed the MVC’s review of the first phase of the proposed project, the most significant stumbling block for some has been the potential environmental impacts of having a synthetic turf playing field as the centerpiece of the plan.
The first phase of the plan also includes a fully resurfaced track, and five natural grass fields.
After six public hearing sessions, totallng 18 hours of meeting time, deliberation and decision on the project is on the agenda Thursday.
The project has brought back into focus a number of age-old local and global environmental issues — advocates of synthetic turf say the amount of water, chemicals, and nutrients it would take to properly maintain all grass fields would be more financially and environmentally costly than having one large plastic game field. Chris Huntress of Huntress Associates — the design firm chosen by the high school to create the plan — has said at prior meetings that based on usage hours, five natural grass fields would not be sustainable without one synthetic turf field.
Folks who support an all-grass sports complex, including a number of environmental organizations on-Island, have said that the Vineyard is working hard to minimize the use of plastics, and bringing a large synthetic field to the high school would go against that strongly held value. The Field Fund, a nonprofit organization that has worked to create and maintain grass playing fields for Island schools, has been the staunchest and most vocal advocate for an all-grass campus.
Several student athletes and coaches at MVRHS have endorsed the synthetic game field, saying that synthetic turf reduces the number of injuries caused by ground impact, and creates a safe, even playing surface.
If the commission decides that the detriments of the project outweigh the benefits, the high school will have to go back to the drawing board with Huntress Associates.
If the project is approved, conditions for future reviews, or stipulations related to environmental impacts can be placed on the decision.
Whatever the decision of the MVC, both advocates of synthetic turf and natural grass agree that the high school has been in dire need of a new athletic complex, and particularly a new game field and running track, for years.
View the MVC DRI website for the full list of correspondence and meeting notes, as well as the Zoom link for the upcoming meeting on the field project.
To all commissioners…please remember the momentum of our island community is towards LESS plastic. Please deny the use of artificial turf for this project.
The water usage is “unsustainable” for 6 natural fields but is sustainable for 5 ?
That’s a joke, right ?
You know, there may be some things that get in between the “blades” of plastic– does this stuff ever need to be cleaned, or does the petri dish just keep accumulating bacteria that gets ground into the faces of our football players ?
Who will be liable when the CDC finds that plastic football fields are making our kids sick ?
If we are worried about the “sustainability” of watering fields, lets take a look at the golf courses, and randomly determine that they are only “sustainable” for 12 holes, instead of 18.
Golfers chime in here please— how would you feel about playing on a plastic golf course ?
What could go wrong with that ?
What happens to bird poop when it lands there?