Friday night football is coming to Franklin County Technical School.
The Franklin Tech athletic department got a huge victory Wednesday night when the School Committee approved money to not only complete renovations on the school’s outdoor track, but also gave the green light to adding lights on the football field.
Franklin Tech was the only school in Franklin County without lights on its athletic fields, which prompted athletic director Joe Gamache and a small group to put together a proposal to get them, plus the renovated track. The proposal was made possible thanks to savings left over from the school’s recent roofing and paving renovations. On Wednesday, the School Committee approved the bid to put a new rubber track around the field and install lights around the track and football field.
“It’s pretty significant,” Gamache beamed following Wednesday’s news. “It offers us the opportunity to be competitive with other area schools and offer our students a state-of-the-art facility. Most schools in our area have a nice track as well as lights, and it’s an opportunity to offer a comparable experience to our student-athletes.”
The track is expected to be completed by the middle of this September. Although there is no timetable on when the lights will be ready, Gamache hopes to have them for the fall of 2017.
Franklin Tech has not hosted a track and field meet in well over a decade. The school had an existing rubber track that was in disrepair and recently removed. When the paving project was recently done, the track was also paved, so at worst the school would have had an asphalt surface around the football field to walk or jog on. Now, with the bid accepted, work can begin on putting down the rubber for the new six-lane track, and the school should be hosting track & field meets this spring.
The Franklin Tech track & field teams are currently a co-operative with Turners Falls High School, which means all meets have been held at neighboring Bourdeau Complex. The cooperative, which needs to be renewed every two years and is now in the process, will likely be renewed again this year for two more years, but either school will now be able to host meets.
Money was also approved to resurface the antiquated, unused school tennis courts. According to Gamache, the courts will become outdoor basketball courts.
The cost of all the projects was not known at press time.