Shunpike Field to Open June 4

The opening ceremonies for Shunpike Field will take place on June 4, Chatham Township Administrator Tom Ciccarone said Monday.

A tentative earlier date of May 21 had been slated for the opening ceremony, but Ciccarone said that those plans were never finalized. "Unfortunately, people sometimes make public statements about tentative plans and they then get repeated," he said.

Ciccarone said the tentative plan is for the opening day festivities to begin at 4:30 p.m. with the ribbon cutting at 6 p.m.

The Chatham Township Committee , but Ciccarone said there was no work done on the field on May 15, likely due to the weather.

Ciccarone said the town had hoped that games could be played on the turf field this week, but said it now "seems unlikely."

Construction of the field has experienced numerous delays ever since the township accepted a bid from Fredco Landscaping in February 2010.

Fredco had some trouble finding a fill for the field that it did not need to pay for, and that caused a delay. In September 2010, Board of Education member John Nonnenmacher said the turf fields were scheduled to open in April 2011. Construction came to a near standstill during the winter, which brough heavy snowfall. The ground had to dry before work could continue in the spring, which has been difficult because of numerous rainy days.

The turf fields can be used as soon as the field opens. The grass fields must sit for a year before they can be used for sports games.