Millburn Township and the Board of Education broke ground Sept. 1 on a $5.67 million renovation of three athletic fields at Millburn High School. The joint project will add synthetic turf, LED lighting and roughly 1,120 playable hours per year for school teams and youth leagues.

The contract, awarded to Thomas & Sons Builders LLC, totals $5,666,283. The cost came in under budget. The township had projected roughly $7 million, according to its press release. The township and school district will split the cost.

Thomas & Sons submitted the lowest of six bids, TAPinto reported. The Board of Education voted July 23 to approve the contract, which includes a $3,753,000 base bid, two allowances totaling $691,100 and a $1,222,183 alternate for athletic field lighting.

Workers will install 189,000 square feet of organic infill synthetic turf on two multi-purpose fields and the varsity baseball field. Thirteen new LED light poles, ranging from 60 to 100 feet tall, will go up at the turfed fields and at Miller Field, which is used for varsity softball.

The multi-purpose fields will serve Millburn boys' and girls' high school soccer, the township's youth soccer league and lacrosse. Project engineer Rob Walsh of EI Associates told the Planning Board at its July 15 review that lacrosse would be placed on the left-field multi-purpose area to maintain a safety buffer.

Committeeman Ben Stoller, who served on the Recreation Commission, Joint Fields and Finance committees that advanced the project, called the renovation a monumental step for the township in the Sept. 2 press release.

Stoller said the partnership with the school district will let the township offer more field options as its recreation programs grow.

Recreation Commissioner Scott Redler pointed to the wear on the current grass surfaces. "Sometimes there are holes or divots that can cause injury," Redler told The Miller, the Millburn High student newspaper. "Lots of geese and animals leave droppings which are unpleasant."

The added capacity could ease scheduling headaches across Millburn athletics. Boys' and girls' lacrosse teams may no longer need to alternate between the high school and library fields, and newer programs such as girls' flag football will have more room to grow.

Planning began with a July 2024 feasibility study. A shared services agreement between the township and the Board of Education was approved Feb. 9, and EI Associates was hired for $192,500 in architectural and engineering services.

Construction is expected to wrap up before March 2027.