On Wednesday, April 16, 2014, Woodbidge Township Mayor John McCormac came to Colonia High School to kick off a Groundbreaking Ceremony for the new renovations to the football field and baseball fields.
The ceremony started right after block one and featured Colonia’s cheerleaders, soccer players, football players, and a musical number from the CHS Band. To start off the ceremony, Principal Kenneth D. Pace, Sr. talked about what changes will be made to the school. Thanks to a ten million dollar grant that allows the township to pay for upgrades to parks, stadiums, and auditoriums around Woodbridge Township, Colonia High School is able to get a new turf football field, along with new turf baseball fields that can also be used as soccer fields. The fields will be used for Varsity and Junior Varsity games and will also be used for recreational purposes.
On top of that, Colonia High will also get air conditioning for the auditorium. After Pace talked about the new upgrades, the Mayor went up to the podium to talk about how Woodbridge Township got the money for these upgrades. He mentioned that the upgrades are financed through tax incentives called payments in lieu of taxes, or PILOTs, and that the schools did not have to pay for any of the field upgrades or for the new air conditioners. After his speech, CHS’s band played a musical number to celebrate the new changes that will be made to the school. McCormac claimed, “These fields will be the best in the county.”
Once the band stopped playing, students from the school’s football team, soccer team including both girls and guys, and cheerleaders grabbed a shovel and headed over to a hole that was dug just for the ceremony. Each student and staff member grabbed some of the dirt and moved it to commemorate the start of the renovations.
Many students are excited about the new fields, including sophomore Patrick Enz. “I can’t wait till they [fields] are done, they look really good from the posters and I can’t wait to see them when I’m a junior.” The new fields are expected to be done by the new school season just in time for the new sports season. The new air conditioning will also be in just before the new school year.
