BUFFALO TWP — About 25 residents and high school students attended the Freeport School Board meeting Wednesday to make their case for turf baseball and softball fields.

Construction on the district’s new athletics complex, which will be used for football, soccer and lacrosse, is expected to begin this spring. The board on Oct. 14 voted to award bids for that project totaling $3.57 million.

The next project the board will work on is planning for new baseball and softball diamonds.

The current softball diamond will be displaced by the new athletics complex and the baseball games will be played at Swartz Field in Freeport for the final time this spring.

Brian Zeppuhar, who is involved with the baseball boosters and has children in the district, said March weather in most years has prohibited the high school teams from being able to practice outside and adequately prepare for games. However, many of the their opponents have turf fields and are able to practice and play outdoors even in rainy weather, putting Freeport at a disadvantage.

“There is only so much that a coach and a player can do to develop practicing baseball in a gym for two months. They really need to get on the field to improve their skills and improve their team,” he said.

Though the up front cost is more, there are studies that show that over 10 years, turf fields would actually cost less, because there is less maintenance.

Turf diamonds could also help create revenue for the district, because it could host WPIAL playoffs or other youth tournaments, he said.

Given the growth of the community and the high level of interest in youth softball, there could be a demand for a middle school baseball team in the future, which would mean another team using the new field, he said.

Frankie Stefko, a Freeport senior and varsity baseball player, said the borough handles maintenance of Swartz Field, but the players have sometimes had to pitch in themselves to get the field ready to play on.

In 2013, not wanting to postpone their senior night, the players spent about two hours to get the field ready.

“For the people coming up, I don’t want them to have to deal with that during what is supposed to be their biggest game of the year,” Stefko said.

The team has also had to play some of its home games at its opponents’ field or at a neutral location like Kelly Automotive Park in Butler, he said.

John Radvan, a former Freeport Softball president, said the high school softball teams have the same issues with grass fields, though the district has handled maintenance of their diamond.

He noted that with the athletics complex construction going on, the softball teams will play their home games at Freeport Community Park this spring.

The district is using VEBH Architects, which is preparing design documents and cost estimates for the new fields, which will be build adjacent to the new middle school in time for the 2017 season.

The board does not yet know the cost of having grass fields versus the cost of artificial surface fields, board president Dan Lucovich said.

“As we continue to develop all the new complexes at the school district, our goal is to do it as cost effective as we can and to put in the best programs and use the best materials,” he said.

The board expects to see a presentation on field options, including cost estimates, from the architects at the board meeting on Dec. 9, he said.