The playing field in front of St. Mary's High School is getting a new look. Marist Field, which is extensively used by the school as well as the Manhasset community for sports, is in the process of becoming a dramatically different landscape. The home of the Gaels' sports teams and host of Manhasset PAL baseball during the spring will be renovated and replaced with artificial playing turf, or FieldTurf, a dramatically different synthetic turf. The most striking difference is that the fiber surface is soft like new blades of grass. Players can slide, tackle and tumble on FieldTurf's specially treated polyethylene fibers without fear of abrasions. Field Turf's inventors were sportsmen who developed a synthetic system that offered the beneficial bio-mechanical properties of natural grass with the durable synthetic system of all-weather playability, low maintenance, and unlimited playing time.

The field is presently being prepared for its new turf. Many stages had to occur before the process could begin--permits issued, new cesspools dug, old cesspools checked and re-capped, rip out existing grass, track, gravel, metal, and all followed by grading and tamping. Then silica sand and cryogenic rubber will be distributed evenly throughout the field. The infill provides superior safety, grasslike stability and better long-term resilience. Its versatility allows all weather play with no ponding because of superior drainage.

A considerable donation has allowed this monumental undertaking; however, there is still a need for funding. To help complete the work please send contributions to St. Mary's Turf Project, c/o Development Offices, 1300 Northern Blvd. Manhasset, NY 11030.