Recreation Director Anne McWaters is “super pleased” with the current renovation of the McCurdy Track and the athletic field at Harvard Park. Presently, a 50-foot mountain of loam rests in the middle of a busy construction site that’s outlined by a chain-link fence, but come October, a grassy green soccer field; a brilliant red track with dark grey accents; and a tasteful stone seating wall will grace the complex.
According to McWaters, the project has hit very few snags. The original completion date of Oct. 2 will probably be pushed out by a week or two, but Jonathan Charwick, the project manager of the landscape architecture and civil engineering firm Activitas Inc., admitted recently (to McWaters) that the initial schedule had been “aggressive.” McWaters said, “There are so many different subcontractors involved—so many different pieces to come in and do their part of the work … it’s not a surprise the finish date is slightly delayed.”
Outside of the new seating wall, the field and track will look very similar, but what a spectator can’t see will prove most important. The previous field didn’t drain well, and games often had to be moved or canceled as a result. According to McWaters, the drainage system on the new field is “wild.” “Knock on wood, but this field is going to drain like a champ,” she said. In addition, the track was 24 years old, and materials and innovation have improved, so the renovated facility should be “far superior.”
As for the mountain of loam that waits to be spread, the soil was completely recycled from the old field. “We wanted to be eco-friendly, so they put the old topsoil through a massive screening machine that removed rocks and grass, and deposited this beautifully recycled soil. It was so cool,” McWaters said.
It appears the project will hit its projected budget numbers. In fact, because McWaters won a $1 million grant from the National Parks Service to support the renovation, she’s hopeful a “substantial amount” of money will be returned to the Community Preservation Committee, and that money can go toward the future acquisition or restoration of open space, historic resources, land for recreational use, and community housing in the town of Harvard.
