Hurley was first renovated in August 2002. In the 21 years since, it has started to show signs of wear and tear, and since the field is constantly being used by soccer, football, and track players, the district has decided to renovate it. In August, the $88 million Berkley bond passed, allowing Hurley’s turf to finally get updated during the spring of 2024. As much as this is a great thing for the community, some of the girls soccer team expressed frustration because it’s getting redone during the girls soccer season.
Obviously the difficulty for the girls soccer team is that this prevents them from using the space to hold practices and games. This caused a lot of frustration and disappointment as to where these events would take place, girls soccer captain, senior Maeve Nolan wanted to express her opinion on this topic, “I think it needs to be done because Hurley isn’t in the best condition, but the timing could have been better and done in a way where the girls season wasn’t impacted. This made me really upset because it’s also my senior year, so not being able to play on Hurley is going to be really unfortunate, and I feel like we have the whole summer to redo it so there’s definitely a different time this could be done. I think games and practices are going to be held in the Oak Park field or Southfield field, but it’s going to be hard because we need lights and turf.”
I interviewed the girls soccer team coach Zach Hobson, here is what he said about this, “Following a spring in which we achieved an undefeated home record, not having a fortress to defend this spring is disappointing, particularly considering the lofty objectives that we have set for ourselves. Furthermore, our seniors now will not have the opportunity to compete against rivals such as Royal Oak or celebrate their Senior Night on the field that they have called home for the past three springs, which is heartbreaking. However, the reality is that the facility has been due for a face-lift for years, and we are looking forward to the final result. Ultimately, that decision-making process happens above our heads, but with our input regarding possible solutions, we believe that we will have a suitable facility to train and play our three home league games at. To be determined, but again, with our input regarding possible solutions, we believe that we will have a suitable facility to train and play our three home league games at – potentially Oak Park High School or another local high school with available space that is both turfed and lighted.”
Mr. Meloche discussed why the field was scheduled to be renovated during the spring, “I’m really excited to renovate both the field and track at Hurley. This type of renovation will be beneficial to our athletic programs for years to come. Regardless of the timing of the renovation, someone was unfortunately going to have to be disrupted. With regards to field usage, the summer into fall season gets very heavy usage (i.e. football, cheer, soccer, marching band, etc.) versus the spring season (i.e. track and soccer) which is lighter. Therefore, the timing was determined so that we could try to disrupt the least amount of programs.”
Mr. Meloche said it is unclear precisely how long the renovation may take saying,  “Because schools are government agencies, there are certain protocols and procedures we must follow. Unfortunately, these guidelines can make things take a little longer versus if you want something done in a private residency. That being said, we are moving as quickly as we can to get the work done in an expedited manner. We hope to start the work shortly after the fall season winds down, and from there we’ll see how the weather cooperates.”