Bellmore-Merrick District-wide High School Athletic Fields + Facilities

In 2013, local voters approved the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District’s $49.89 million construction bond for infrastructure improvements and renovations to the district’s educational facilities and support buildings. Work was performed over four summers so as not to interfere with the students’ education during the school year. Construction took place at the district’s five schools located in the towns of Bellmore and Merrick – Grand Avenue and Merrick Avenue Middle Schools, and Sanford H. Calhoun, John F. Kennedy, and Wellington C. Mepham High Schools – as well as at the Administration and the Transportation buildings.

The extensive upgrades to the athletic fields district-wide included initial removal of deteriorated natural turf surfaces and replacing them with state-of-the-art artificial turf systems with new high-capacity drainage networks. High ground water levels at the Kennedy and Grand Avenue school sites required innovative design solutions and specification of StormTech sub-surface storm water drainage systems. These incorporate a network of polypropylene chambers that retain storm water and slowly release it into the ground. Athletic fields at the other 3 schools received a “standard” horizontal perforated drainage piping system underneath the playing surface with perimeter pipes directing water to leaching pools.

Project Facts