GREENWICH, CT — At long last, the new turf playing fields at Western Middle School are open.
The WMS and greater community gathered Thursday morning in frigid temperatures and bright sunshine for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to commemorate the opening of the fields, which were closed for eight years due to the discovery of contaminated soil in 2016.
The ceremony was originally scheduled for Wednesday, but heavy rain caused the WMS community to wait one more day, something WMS Principal Suzanne Coyne said was “fitting” considering the lengthy project and all the work that went into remediation.
“No one expected how long it would take to get us here today, but we are so glad we’ve made it to this day finally… Rain, wind and frigid temperatures were not going to stop us from celebrating this day,” Coyne said in brief remarks in front of town officials, community members and WMS eighth graders.
“The Western community now has the fields they truly deserve. Our students will experience PE class as it was meant to be experienced. Our sports teams will be able to host home games and meets for the first time in eight years. Our students will finally have a field day, and I promise you, it will be the best one this district has seen in a long time,” Coyne added.
Coyne looked forward to the eighth-grade promotion ceremony in the spring, which will be conducted on the new fields.For the past eight years, WMS students have had to be bussed elsewhere in town to use other athletic fields and facilities.
“There are a lot of great memories to come for Western Middle School on these beautiful fields,” Coyne said.
Superintendent of Greenwich Public Schools Dr. Toni Jones thanked all those involved for seeing the project through to its completion, and she thanked the students for their patience.
“It’s been a long wait,” Jones said. “This is by far one of the best middle school fields in the state, if not the country.”
When the school was constructed in the 1950s, contaminated fill material was imported to the site to build athletic fields. Contaminants of concern found at concentrations above regulatory criteria in the soil included polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), volatile organic compounds, semi-volatile organic compounds, metals and pesticides.
The environmental investigation and remediation activities began in 2016 under the Connecticut Voluntary Remediation Program.
Cleanup work began November 2023 and excavation of the soil was largely completed by June 2024, according to the school district.
Crews excavated and transported more than 35,000 tons of contaminated soil to “permitted disposal facilities,” the school district said. As part of the restoration phase, approximately 46,000 tons of backfill, planting soil and crushed stone material was brought in before the construction of the synthetic turf athletic fields stone base and landscaped areas.
First Selectman Fred Camillo, who’s very familiar with the WMS fields, was at Thursday’s ceremony.
“This is much needed. As somebody who has spent decades on this field, as a player, a coach, and umpiring, I never thought I’d ever see something like this in Greenwich, let alone at Western,” Camillo told Patch. “What we really have now is a sports complex. This is something that’s going to be a point of pride for the west side and for all of Greenwich.”
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Following the ribbon-cutting ceremony, the WMS eighth graders sprinted with joy across the new fields for the first time.
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