EASTHAMPTON – Friday night football games will be a possibility for Easthampton High School next fall after the City Council on Wednesday approved spending $185,000 to install lights at the White Brook Middle School athletic fields.
The money will be taken from Community Preservation Act accounts.
The work is required to be complete by Oct. 1, unless the CPA Committee grants an extension.
Easthampton High School Athletic Director Patti Dougherty said that the Eagles are the only football team in the division without a lighted field, requiring the team to play games on Saturday afternoons. The school recently moved up a division, she added.
“Lighting of the field goes along with raising the stature of our program,” Dougherty said. And for the spectators, “It’s just a little bit more of an event.”
The night games will also serve as a revenue-generator for the high school’s athletic program, Dougherty said.
The field will primarily be used for football, but Dougherty said that it will be able to be used for other athletic events, such as senior night soccer games. Those games are currently played at the fields on the campus of the Williston Northampton School.
“We definitely want to make the field available” for events other than football games, she said.
City Councilor Daniel D. Rist noted that the only cost to the School Department will be the utility bills for running the lights, which will be “minimal.”
The Easthampton Friends of Football Association has committed to paying for the maintenance cost of the lights, estimated to be $10,000 annually.
Fire Chief David Mottor spoke in favor of the funding, especially because it is an investment in youth sports.
“I guarantee the first night those lights come on, the brightest thing on the field will be the kids’ smiles,” he said.
Chris Lindahl can be reached at clindahl@gazettenet.com.