The season's first snowfall recently was as good a time as any to remind folks, especially those in Warren who still may not have heard, about the Bristol Planning Board's recent approval of the master plan submitted by the Bristol Warren Regional School District for the new Mt. Hope High School, which includes an artificial turf surface for the main sports stadium.

The Bristol authority made the decision at its October meeting, clearing the way for the district's design and build teams to move ahead with their work to keep on schedule to meet both future construction timelines and Rhode Island Department of Education approval guidelines.

About the Bristol Planning Board approval, School Committee Chair Nicky Piper said, "The conversation about the turf field included all stakeholders, and this led to the best outcome for kids."

Prior to the meeting vote, Kris Bradner, one of the district's project consultants Traverse Landscape Architects briefed the body and the audience on the field plan. She showed the proposed design for the sports fields, all of which will remain natural grass except for the stadium.

Bradner said the synthetic turf adds versatility to the field and also the option to offer field hockey as a varsity endeavor in the fall. The sport is one of the few sanctioned by the Rhode Island Interscholastic League not currently offered at MHHS.

District Director of Athletics Christy Belisle also spoke at the Bristol Planning Board meeting, and agreed with that assessment while also saying the turf field would be easier to maintain, especially since numerous teams use it during the fall.

She noted it's difficult to keep it up to standard until Thanksgiving, when every other year Mt. Hope hosts its annual holiday football game against Barrington as it did a few weeks ago.

Speaking after the forum, Belisle was delighted with the affirmative vote of the board, which at times during the process seemed like a 50-50 proposition.

"I'm very excited," Belisle said late this fall gesturing to the turf before one of the aforementioned Mt. Hope home football games. "I think people understand from a program standpoint we live in New England, we need the space and we need to be able to utilize the space longer.

"I think people all came to realize even though we'd love to have a beautiful grass field taken care of every day by a gardener, we don't have the money to do that. And in New England it makes sense to have turf."

The synthetic field will be permanently lined with football gridiron markings as well as those for soccer and lacrosse. Belisle also expressed the desire to start the girls' field hockey program.

As for the actual turf itself, the constitution of which raised worries from some in the community about any potential health effects, the latest incarnation of the polyethylene fibers are far less abrasive than their predecessors.

The infill has also changed through the generations, now using more sand and alternative substances like cork and others known in the industry as "corkonut," "safeshell" and "brockfill." The cork substance is pretty self-explanatory. Corkonut is a mix of cork and coconut husk. Safeshell is derived from the exterior of walnuts. Brockfill is made of wood particles.

The pilings, the turf fibers themselves, are between 1.75 inches to 2 inches high, allowing for a quality playing surface in multiple sports. It's long enough for solid footing in games like football and lacrosse while being just short enough for the flow of ball movement in soccer and field hockey.

Belisle said, "We're going to go with the mid-level height and with a natural backfill. It's wood-based instead of rubber, but it's not as harsh as some of the others like walnut based. That's kind of rough on the kids' skin."

Of the design for the new stadium overall, Belisle explained the current track doesn't meet the minimum lane number and length standards to hold either invitational or championship-level meets, but the one planned for the renovated stadium will afford MHHS the opportunity to do both.

With all that in mind, the director of athletes is convinced having access to a large, outdoor space throughout most of the year will only enhance the performance of Huskies from a host of sports.

"It's going to help us get better. I believe that 100 percent," Belisle said. "In general, just having availability late into November and then in early March is going to help. I mean you can use it even for baseball and softball just for practice. Right now, trying to teach kids how to track a ball inside a gym in early March is very difficult. But this will be available. I'm looking forward to it helping us be more competitive."

The new MHHS plan for athletic fields also includes the potential to construct a baseball diamond, which would see the sport brought on campus for the first time.

"Baseball is coming home. That's a big, big, huge deal for us," Belisle said. "It's about accessibility for kids to be able to practice and also for the rest of the kids to support their home programs."

In addition to outdoor activities, the scale of the proposed gymnasium inside the new building could also be a boon to athletes and the general student population.

"I'm also excited about the new gym," Belisle added. "It's going to be reorganized differently. There's an upstairs where the fitness and weight training will be. It will actually have three full-sized basketball courts, so you can have three practices going on at once. And also three volleyball courts. So in terms of being able to host 9-10 or JV or even a Christmas tournament, it's super effective, so we're psyched about that."

An updated field layout plan was on the agenda and expected to be disccused at the Thursday, Dec. 5, meeting of the Bristol Warren Regional School District Building Committee.