Muhls’ remaining home games in jeopardy as field issue lingers
2024 Berks football coverage
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It appears Muhlenberg’s senior football players might not have the opportunity to play another game on their newly renovated stadium field.
A week after the school district announced the field was “unsafe,” a second scheduled home game has been moved. The Muhls will play their Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 2 opener at Lebanon’s Alumni Field on Friday, not in Laureldale as planned.
Next week’s home game against Gov. Mifflin, designated as Senior Night, will almost certainly need to bemoved off campus. The home finale, Oct. 11 vs. Ephrata, which is designated as Homecoming, is in jeopardy.
“There’s nothing more heart-wrenching than what we are going through with our facilities right now,” said Muhlenberg superintendent Dr. Joseph Macharola. “(It) bothers me (that) our kids are not gonna be able to play there. We have a great looking field, but it’s gonna have to come up. This is sad.”
The issue surfaced following Muhlenberg’s home opener Aug. 23 against Schuylkill Valley when it was discovered that metal filings were used as fill material below the artificial surface. Macharola said the school district contracted to have rubber pellets used as fill and called the metal pieces dangerous.
“There is no way – no way – I’m going to let anybody on that field,” Macharola told MikeDragoSports.com Thursday morning. “Safety is my No. 1 concern, and it is not safe. This is not a safe place to play.”
Macharola said that Shaw Sports Turf, of Calhoun, Ga., contracted to have another company, PlaySure LLC of Dalton, Ga., to remove the metal particles. That process is ongoing. Macharola has not received a timetable for completion of the project.
Macharola laid blame for use of substandard fill to Liberty Tire Recycling of Pittsburgh.
“I cannot tell you how angered I am by the complete lack of integrity of the business community that we entrusted that they would deliver what we expected them to,” he said. “There was a total lack of quality control. Our kids got the short end of the stick with this.”
Macharola said the school district would consider legal action if problems with the field are not addressed to its satisfaction.
“Believe me, our school board is committed to doing what is right and will fight for the school district,” he said. “We’re not going to be put on the short end of this.”
The Muhlenberg school district is losing potential revenue from the two lost home games and has to pay for the use of other venues. Last week the team moved its home game vs. Daniel Boone to Kutztown University.
Installation of stadium turf, replacing the grass surface, was approved by the Muhlenberg School Board in February. The project was estimated to cost $1.4 million. It was completed just before the Aug. 23 opener.
Muhlenberg defeated Schuylkill Valley 29-20 and there were no issues with the turf, and no injuries were related to the turf.
“We can’t believe what happened here,” Macharola said last week. “Somebody really dropped the ball.”