The Martha’s Vineyard Commission voted 10-6 to approve the regional high school athletic field project at a dramatic meeting Thursday night, capping a long-running and often acrimonious debate over synthetic turf fields.
With spring sports about to get underway Monday, improvements on the track and fields at the regional high school have seen little progress.
Negotiations between the regional high school district committee and a group that wants to upgrade and maintain the school playing fields have been fraught with disagreement since June, with key terms of a contract still hanging as of this week.
The high school committee has formally agreed to change tack and pursue a plan to upgrade the playing fields using natural grass. A plan to revamp fields using artificial turf has been postponed indefinitely.
A plan to upgrade the high school playing fields using grass in place of artificial turf hit a snag when school leaders learned that engineering drawings to rebuild the track may not be available as promised.
A controversial plan to revamp the high school playing fields using artificial turf is on hold after a community group unveiled a detailed counter proposal this week to upgrade the fields using all grass instead.
The Martha’s Vineyard Commission has begun laying the groundwork for a highly anticipated public hearing this spring to review plans for an artificial turf field at the regional high school.
