Marblehead parks and rec board eyes improvements to high school football field

MARBLEHEAD – The Recreation and Parks Commission is floating a proposal for improvements at Sgt. Christopher Piper Field, the Marblehead High football field.Commission members have discussed the possibility with Town Administrator Tony Sasso and want to discuss it with the School Committee and Superintendent of Schools Greg Maass as well.To the commission, it?s a matter of town pride. With Marblehead High football teams claiming two conference championships in the past three years, they?d like to see the team playing on a first-class field, and as Recreation Supervisor Mike Lane said, “There?s momentum in town for this now.”The commission is willing to make a contribution to the improvements, which were estimated as high as $130,000, far below the $1.5 million proposal to cover the field with Astroturf in 2010 but still a sizeable amount of money for a capital improvement.?We need to find out (the School Department?s) level of interest,” Commission Chairman Chip Osborne said.He proposed putting the project out to bid on an “a la carte” basis and seeking money outside the town budget to do the work. However, if the work is to be done this spring the commission will only have 60 days to come up with its share of the money.Commission member Derek Norcross urged his colleagues to meet with the School Committee “as soon as we can.”?We don?t know how much this is going to cost and we don?t know how much money we can get,” he said.Osborne said they should meet with the School Committee and “Let the process take its course.”