AMHERST — Ground has officially broken on the Amherst Regional High School track and field renovation project, following a ceremony in the school’s parking lot overlooking the complex on Monday afternoon.

A sizable crowd gathered for the event — including Hurricanes’ staff and students, members of the Amherst Regional School Committee and Town Council and representatives from Pelham, Shutesbury and Leverett — to celebrate the first step in a project that’ll bring a new track, as well as two natural grass multi-sport fields to Amherst student-athletes.

“We’re here to break ground and for me it all matters because it’s for the children,” Amherst Superintendent E. Xiomara Herman said in her opening remarks.

The $4.11 million project has been in the works for nearly a decade, but wasn’t green-lit until an Amherst Regional School Committee meeting this past February, when the plans, including an eight-lane track and an interior grass field, received unanimous approval from members. The new track will be replacing the 1999-built, latex-covered asphalt oval that has deteriorated. The poor condition of the running surface has forced the Hurricanes to travel for every outdoor track meet since 2018.

“I would like to say a special thank you to our students and coaches who advocated diligently at our [School Committee] meetings and many other town committee meetings,” Amherst-Regional School Committee Chairwoman Sarahbess Kenney said.

The project will be undertaken by M.J. Catalado Inc., a landscaping and construction company from Littleton.

Hurricanes’ girls outdoor track and field coach Chris Gould said he believes the track will be ready by next spring, however the fields may take longer to finish. Along with a new field inside the confines of the track, with a north-south orientation, another field west of the track will be constructed, which will also hold discus and javelin competitions.

“That’s the thing, maybe the track is done, but if the fields aren’t done, it means we don’t have a [javelin or disc] area and then I don’t know what we do with that,” Gould said. “Whether we do everything but those things here for a year, we’ll see how that goes.”

M.J. Catalado will have 120 days to complete the project, which puts a tentative deadline on the renovation to end in late October, with work set to begin next week.

Part of the delays in getting the project approved included an original plan for a synthetic playing surface inside the track, raising concerns for health boards in the communities and others about possible contamination from PFAS, also known as forever chemicals. Town and school officials also had to advocate for the project in each of the four member towns, with money being contributed from Community Preservation Act accounts.

Students-athletes grateful

Current Amherst student-athletes expressed their gratitude and excitement for the new facilities after being forced to train in less-than-ideal conditions for many years.

“I can honestly say this ceremony is very important, not just to me, but to our entire track and field team and the generations of athletes to come,” Amherst sophomore track and field athlete Ololara Baptiste said. “For years, Amherst’s track teams have trained on a track with holes, cracks and wasn’t even fully functional. We couldn’t host any home meets, we had to travel for every competition. We practiced in tough conditions, dealt with uneven surfaces and still found a way to push ourselves every single day.

“This new track is more than just a surface to run on, it’s a statement,” Baptiste added. “It shows that Amherst believes in its student-athletes.”

Amherst sophomore Ellis Rubin said the new facility will be important for the school’s standout track program. The girls’ team won the school’s first-ever MIAA Division 4 state title earlier this month.

“As a three-sport athlete here at Amherst, I understand how important it is to have a place where we can train and grow,” Rubin said. “With the addition of this new facility, our ability to do all of those things will skyrocket, allowing our already, state, region and nationally recognized teams to continue to compete at the highest level.”

Hurricanes’ sports teams that will specifically benefit from the new facilities are the boys and girls soccer, lacrosse and ultimate teams, the field hockey team and both outdoor track teams.

“I’m hoping that this is a good sign of things to come and that the town will make the Amherst school system a top priority again,” Amherst Regional High School principal Talib Sadiq said.

The Amherst Hurricane Boosters will provide a donation of more than $100,000 for the completion of the project.

Monday’s ceremony concluded with members of the Amherst Town Council reading citations to congratulate the Amherst girls state champion indoor and outdoor track teams, while the members of the team held a banner commemorating the victories.