Belchertown Stadium Field Unsafe, All Fall Home Sports Games to Move

BELCHERTOWN — June 23, 2026 — Belchertown's stadium athletic field is unsafe for play and will likely sit empty through the entire 2026-27 school year. Superintendent Brian Cameron and facilities staff told the School Committee at its June 23 meeting that two on-site wells yield only about 15 gallons per minute against an irrigation requirement of 112 gallons per minute, forcing a Community Preservation Committee grant modification in April to fund two water storage tanks roughly 20 by 12 feet each, to be bid by mid-July and potentially installed by late August. With the field left bare and pockmarked by drought and herbicide treatment, Athletic Director Christine Vigneault said after walking the field that "it is not safe," particularly in the center. Football, boys soccer, girls soccer, and field hockey — accounting for close to 30 combined home games — will need alternate venues, with Cronk Field in Belchertown and Pathfinder's lighted field in Palmer under discussion, though busing costs remain unbudgeted. The committee also received end-of-year academic data showing district students in grades 6 through 8 made 144 percent of typical national reading growth on iReady, while oral reading fluency in grades 4 and 5 was identified as the primary gap requiring intervention staffing the committee does not currently have. Cold Spring School formally closed, with movers beginning June 24 and a full vacate deadline of June 30.