Generally speaking, my apartment house in Pennsauken is a pleasant
place in which to live, but being on the top floor (14th) has its
disadvantages: the sun beating down during the summer, cold winds
whistling across the roof in the winter, and an elevator that seems to
operate in slow motion.
The building's advantages, however, far overshadow the negatives. A
bus goes into Philly several times a day, the utilities are included in
the rent, and the view is spectacular. I see nothing but lush foliage
bordering the Cooper River off to the right, where schools from around
the country race their sculls and where sailboats, looking so much like
toy models from this distance, tack up and down the river.
The icing on this picturesque cake is Bishop Eustace Preparatory
School's athletic field, which is below my window. My perch is like
being in the Goodyear blimp. The school's soccer matches, track meets
and football games have been mine for the asking for about 10 years.
Imagine, then, my shock on looking out the window one morning and
staring down at a scene from a construction site. Equipment of every
size and shape was tearing up the football field and making a mess of
the oval track that surrounds it. The goalposts were gone; the grassy
surface had been swallowed up by dirt and hauled away by trucks. The
entire area resembled a landfill.
This wanton destruction of my favorite playing field continued for
several days until the site was unrecognizable. Only the metal
grandstand offered any hint of what had been there. I could only guess
that Bishop Eustace was adding a building to its modest campus. I
looked to the north of the classrooms. The baseball fields were still
there. To the east, the practice football field remained untouched.
With all that space, I thought, why do they have to build right under
my window? And if it's a tall building, I can kiss my view goodbye. I
was not a happy renter.
Following the desecration of the field, the earthmovers returned and
dug what looked like a foundation that was then leveled by one machine
and flattened by another. Several days later, a deep channel was dug
where the 50-yard line had been. It was then filled with cement and
covered. This merely added to the mystery. After more leveling and
flattening, a black, tar-paper-like cover was laid over the entire
field. About this time, I started to think that this wasn't going to be
another building, but I didn't want to jump to conclusions.
I stopped in at the school to see whether I could verify my
suspicions, but since it was vacation time, nobody was around. I tried
talking to some of the workers sweating in the 90-plus heat, but we
weren't speaking the same language.
Soon truckloads of what appeared to be small stones were dumped and
leveled. The stones were spread out and packed down over and over by
the roller. This continued for days - more stones, more leveling, more
packing down - interrupted by only rain. At this point, the suspense
was getting to me. I called Bishop Eustace. A female voice answered the
phone. I asked the all-important question, "What are they doing to the
athletic field?"
"We're installing artificial grass," she answered.
What a relief. AstroTurf! Sure enough, after several months of hard
work, 36 carpetlike rolls wrapped in a protective covering were
delivered to the sidelines. A few days later, I saw the first roll of
synthetic turf being unrolled across the field. It was beautiful!
Bright, yellow goalposts were installed. By early August, 100 yards of
new AstroTurf with white lines stretching across every 5 yards had been
laid down. A new track now circles the field, and four tall light
towers, each with 13 powerful spotlights for night games, were
installed. The finishing touches were completed before school resumed.
I don't think the Eagles could boast a finer field. Now all those kids
have to do is score touchdowns.
And there's an unexpected plus for me: I don't have to listen to
that riding mower cutting 48,000 square feet of grass once a week, not
counting the end zones.
Sidney B. Kurtz writes from Pennsauken.
