BERLIN- On the eve of a new fall sports season, the new turf field at Stephen Decatur High School in Berlin has been completed and is ready for its first action.
Last February, the Worcester County Commissioners approved roughly $1.4 million in funding for the installation of a new turf field at Stephen Decatur High School. Several months later, the new turf field has been installed and will soon be ready for the upcoming fall sports season at the Berlin high school. The new turf field is the third for Worcester County public high schools with others already in place at Snow Hill and Pocomoke High Schools.
The Worcester County Board of Education in February approved the final plans for the new turf field at Decatur. The initial estimate came in at around $1.8 million, but school system facilities planner Joe Price was able to bring the project in about $400,000 under budget.
The project was completed by FieldTurfUSA, the same company that installed the turf fields at Snow Hill and Pocomoke. Decatur’s varsity football team will christen the new field with its home opener against Arcadia on September 6. The boys’ varsity soccer team will play its first official home game on the new turf on September 9, while the girls’ varsity soccer team will play its first home game on September 11.
Later in September, the new field will be officially renamed the Robert G. Knox Field at Louis H. Taylor Stadium, for a pair of long-time fixtures at Decatur. Knox has been the head football coach for decades and Taylor is a former principal at Decatur and current Worcester County Public Schools superintendent. A special ceremony is planned at halftime of the September 20 game against Easton. More details on that ceremony will be provided when they become available.
