New Bedford High School field officials opens

NEW BEFORD, Mass. (WLNE) — New Bedford High School officially celebrated the opening of their new state-of-the-art turf athletic field on Tuesday morning.

The project was funded with $2.9 million from the federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund. The project comes in line with a long list of improvements and upgrades to New Bedford athletic facilities. The new field is built on the former tennis complex, and is constructed with additional safety layering underneath, as it puts a modern cap on the contaminated underground soil, which came from industrial dumping at the former Parker Street waste facility between the 1930s and 70s.

In a statement, Mayor Jon Mitchell said:

“New Bedford’s student-athletes deserve first-rate athletic facilities. This new field is the latest addition in a series of major upgrades to the high school athletic campus,” Mayor Mitchell said. “I am grateful to the federal delegation and the Biden Administration for the funding that made the field possible.”

Also in a statement, Superintendent Andrew O’Leary said:

“At this time of year, as you walk down Hunter and Parker Streets, looking to the left and right, all you see are dozens and dozens of red and white clad athletes engaging in sports. Representing their city. Giving their all. But now they’re giving their all in the top-notch facilities they deserve,” Supt. O’Leary said. “This latest investment is part of that promise, part of that commitment to equity, part of our commitment to inclusion. New Bedford High School is an institution that represents all of the city, that models inclusion. And inclusion and athletics is what this investment is all about.”