By mid-October, the new synthetic turf at Albemarle was in full swing, being used for field hockey, football, flag football, and selfies. Features a swanky cleat cleaner among other bells and whistles.
This is the fourth —and likely final, for the foreseeable future— synthetic turf installation in Newton. It replaces the most heavily used grass turf in the entire city, which required constant management, chemical treatment and watering. Underneath this installation is a massive climate change mitigation project in the form of a stormwater catch basin. (This process is explained here: https://friendsofalbemarle.org/2025/06/16/how-drainage-will-work-at-albemarle)
As a part of this installation, a wetlands fund was granted to support ongoing protection and management for Cheesecake Brook.
In addition, this 2-acre installation is the only community-accessible synthetic turf in the city of Newton. It is on parkland, not school property, and although it will be heavily used by Day middle school teams after school from 2:30-4pm four days a week, and Newton North as their second synthetic turf field from 4-6 on weekdays*, it will be in constant rotation by other athletes for the many other sports that space supports – from cricket leagues to Ultimate frisbee to a beautiful diversity of sports that are too numerous to name.
*Note – Newton South already has two synthetic turf fields, as do most schools in the leagues these schools are competing against. This brings North’s tally to two as well.
Friends of Albemarle 