Amherst Schools to upgrade athletic facilities this summer

AMHERST — More than a year since a replacement levy passed, upgrades are underway at Amherst Schools' football stadium and adjoining fields. Voters approved a 2.5-mill replacement levy to fund a new transportation center and upgrades to its athletic facilities, including replacing its aging tennis courts and making the football stadium handicapped accessible. Superintendent Mike Molnar said work already started on the schools' five tennis courts, which will be replaced with six tennis courts and four pickleball courts by Aug. 1 to allow the girls' tennis team to play at home next school year. The last weekend in April will see the final event — the 69th annual Comet Relay — at the stadium this school year before it is shut down for the bulk of work this summer. "Nothing's been done at the stadium for 50 years," Molnar said. Weather is the only real concern for work to stretch through this summer, he said, as the new track needs a certain number of hours in the sun to cure before it can be used. Upgrades to the athletic field also include a $400,000 underground drainage. Currently there is no drainage for the field — forcing football players to often stand in ankle-deep water along the sidelines and its track to bubble from larger storms, he said. The underground detention basin will be able to handle up to 100-year storms, he said, helping save the stadium from turning into a muddy mess and preventing some flooding for abutting property owners. The stadium will be closed through late August or early September, depending on the weather, Molnar said. The first football game is home, but there are alternative sites available if the Comets cannot take the field by then. Upgrades to the athletic facilities will cost $7 million to 8 million, Molnar said. The 2.5-mill permanent improvement levy voters passed in 2024 generates about $1.7 million each year. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com