BUFFALO TWP — The Freeport School Board on Wednesday will tackle the issue of whether to put a new stadium in Freeport or the township.

Dan Lucovich, board president, said in an interview that relocating the football field from the borough to the high school complex off Route 356 in the township makes sense.

“To have everything on one campus,” Lucovich said.

But Freeport Mayor Jim Swartz disagreed that moving the field to Buffalo was the way to go.

Swartz stressed the existing field is steeped in tradition.

“1940 they started playing there,” he said.

Township Supervisor John Haven, board chairman, agreed. As a Freeport native, Haven said he wouldn’t mind seeing the field stay in the borough.

“It wouldn’t break my heart,” Haven said.

But Lucovich said logistics override tradition.

“I had the same seats for the last 42 years,” he said about the football field. “I understand tradition. I also understand reality.”

In addition to the majority of students living in the township, the district is closing the junior high school in Freeport.

Swartz stressed the district could save money by keeping the field in the borough, saying grant funding is available.

“There’s money out there,” he said.

Lucovich said funding for the project is lined up so the question is where money should be invested to best serve the taxpayers.

The board recently approved borrowing more than $18 million, some of which helps pay for the $33 million middle school construction and repairs to existing buildings in Buffalo.

Lucovich previously said the rest of the borrowing would fund most of the cost for a new stadium and accompanying facilities, which should be kept under $4 million.

He said staying in Freeport means that field would need to be refurbished to accommodate the high school’s multiple sports, including soccer and lacrosse.

The district also would need to build a field house because of the closure of the junior high.

Swartz said he’s discouraged by the board’s apparent dismissal of the choice to stay in the borough.

“They seemed to have their minds made up,” he said.

After the board selects a site, the next step would be reviewing design options.

VEBH Architects of Pittsburgh has prepared seven designs, three of which apply to a stadium in Freeport Borough. All the choices call for the field to have artificial turf.

The school board meets 7:30 p.m. in the Audion, Room 83, at the high school.