It was a special Friday night at North Harford High.
The field looked good, the fans came in bunches and the Hawks defeated Joppatowne with a big second half to improve to 4-0. There were even postgame fireworks.
But the most exciting part of the evening came at halftime, when it was announced over the public-address system that the school would be receiving funding for the first synthetic turf field in Harford County.
“County Executive [David] Craig wants to work hand in hand with the parents and boosters up there with the stadium,” said Jim Richardson, director of economic development.
Field installation is slated for the summer of 2008, with play beginning that fall. The surface, similar to that at M&T Bank Stadium, will relieve the community of a heavy maintenance workload.
“It?s huge,” said Troy Jubb, president of North Harford?s Endzone Club. “It?s just unbelievable. It takes us four hours every Wednesday night to paint the field. Before the game this week, it was probably 10 hours with the Hawk [logo] in the center and all the hashes.”
The synthetic field also relieves the concern of irrigation, particularly on a field that has no public water. And it will enable other teams outside the high school?s competitive teams to make use of the facility.
“What we get in return is we relieve some of the pressure on our parks-and-rec teams, as well,” Richardson said.
Upgrading the facility has been in the works for some time, and the new field comes on top of the hope of adding a field house. All of these changes come amidst a complete renovation of the school itself, a projectthat is now over budget.
“The stadium area hasn?t been updated in a while because this renovation project has been on the board for five, six, eight years,” said George Hensler, president of the school?s athletic booster club.
Next up are plans to build a field house and replace the bleachers.
HARFORD?S FIELDS
» Havre de Grace High?s James R. Harris Stadium, which opened last fall, added an entry plaza this year, with home bleachers and a field house still in planning.
» Patterson Mill High School could be next in line for a field. The Bel Air school opens in 2007, with a full docket of varsity sports slated to begin the following year.
