Shunpike Field Ready in May, Committee Says

Township Mayor Nicole Hagner and Engineer John Ruschke reported to the committee Thursday that the construction at should be "substantially complete" by the end of May.

Ruschke estimated that the stone for the field would be installed before Tuesday and that 90 percent of the drainage is installed. He said that Fredco, the contractor for the installation of Shunpike Field, is committed to having the turf installed by the end of April and the rest of the project nearly completed one month later.

By Friday residents should be able to see the green of the fields, Ruschke said.

"We are certainly pushing the contractor hard to get the work done as quick as possible," Ruschke said. "When you push a contractor to work harder, they have a tendaency to possibly cut corners. So we definitely want to keep an eye on the contractor and what he's doing."

For that reason, Hagner told the committee that she wanted increased monitoring at Shunpike over the next few weeks. "It will cost more money," Hagner said, "but given the increase in what we're doing over there, especially for a short time, I think it's the right step."

The committee also decided to close the Castle Park area of Shunpike while the accelerated construction continues. "It's just too hard, with all the activities going on over there, to ensure the safety for everybody," Hagner said.

The Department of Public Works has already put up some temporary gates around the playground and the entrance of the park.

One portion of the project that will not be complete is the Chatham emblem on the field. Ruschke said there was a problem selecting the colors of the dye for the emblem.

Fredco told the committee in December, when work ceased at the field due to the weather, that the project would be completed by the end of May and the fields installed by the end of April. "The synthetic turf was scheduled to be in sooner, but with the weather and the snow it just got pushed further [back]," Ruschke said.

Fredco's bid for the renovations at Shunpike were accepted by the committee in . The project has experienced multiple delays: Fredco was told in to complete the project, and in September the company told the committee that .