On Thursday, March 17th, local government leaders, administrators, and students gathered at the Cherry Hill West Jonas C. Morris Stadium to witness and partake in the groundbreaking of the new turf field.

The idea for this artificial field came when the school board was interested in updating the antiquated facilities at both East and West. The problem was the $2 million cost to complete this project. That is when Mayor Cahn and township officials stepped in to help. In July of 2015, Mayor Cahn came to a school board meeting with an idea to present to the Board of Education members; this idea was to split the cost 50-50 so that the turf fields could become a reality. The board accepted the Mayor’s proposal at the meeting that night.

After many months of planning and discussion, the day to break ground was finally here. Mayor Cahn, Council President Fleischer, Councilwoman Roskoph, BOE President Carol Matlack, BOE member Scarpellino, Dr. Meloche, Dr. Morton, Dr. Chapman, and others grabbed a few shovels and started to dig their way into the future of East and West athletic facilities. Everyone was very excited that this idea was now a reality. Mayor Cahn thanked “all of the administration for coming together for the past year and a half” emphasizing that they “have worked so hard in so many committees, in so many meetings trying to come to this day. It really just represents the entire township and Board of Education coming together collaboratively.”

The Mayor thanked everyone for their hard work and cooperation through the entire process and invited Dr. Meloche to say a few remarks. It was wonderful to see everyone coming together to care about the students of Cherry Hill. The new track and field is slated to be completed by June at West and by September at East.