If you build it, they will come
HPHS fields upgrade scheduled for June & July

Danny Breslauer
H.P. Mirror Staff

It was the summer of 1961 and Joe Policastro, Jr. decided there were too many rocks on the field behind Highland Park High School. So, he took his sons and some of their friends to the area between North 5th Avenue and Wayne Street to clean up a bit. After they had loaded the rocks into his pickup trucks, Policastro laid down seeding and topsoil to create the current football field behind HPHS.

Setting nostalgia aside, there are limits to the tradition attached the field and its surrounding land. As is the case with the Highland Park High School field complex, change is sometimes a necessity. In this case, plans are in the works for change to come sooner rather than later.

The Highland Park Municipal Complex is a proposed improvement of the outdoor facilities area for the borough's and the school's mutual benefit. "It'll be a full service municipal recreational complex," HPHS athletic director Bob Thomas said. "There will be ball fields, a playground, handicap access and a turf field."

The winning bid for the complex was $1.593 million from Lucas Construction. According to Thomas, the outlined plans would take approximately eight weeks to finish.

"It is a plan that can work for both the borough and the county as a joint idea," said Middlesex County Freeholder H. James Polos, a former mayor of Highland Park. "The complex can serve as a destination for the borough as it will be its first true municipal recreational park."

<float-box>ìThe kids love playing on it.... I wish all of our fields were artificial.î</float>

Polos discussed the ìunique partnershipî between the county, borough and school board when it came to pushing the idea forward. "The partnership is a critical aspect of the funding," Polos said. "As a mayor and councilman for 17 years, there was always a call for more recreational fields in the community and for control over municipal facilities. This complex would address both those needs at levels of multi-generational use, with the school garnering priority as is customary."

Part of the municipal park would be the installation of a synthetic and weather-resistant field-turf surface for Jay H. Dakelman Field, home of HPHS Owls football since 1961. This new surfacing has been well received by student athletes in Metuchen, where a similar complex is in the final stages of installation. John Cathcart, the Metuchen High athletic director, praised the synthetic turf. "The kids love playing on it. It definitely allows for a true roll to the [soccer] ball and speeds up the game. It is also easier on the knees and hips... I wish all of our fields were artificial."

According to Polos, the schedule for the field installation is in the hands of the borough and the school board. Thomas, the H.P. athletic director, said that the goal was to have shovels in the dirt by June 1, and hopes that the turf fields will be ready for the start of the fall seasons in September 2008.