Uniondale Knights have a new home

The Uniondale school district has reached an agreement with Triton Construction and H2M Architects to build a new state-of-the-art track and artificial-turf field at Uniondale High School. For student athletes and the community at large, the replacement of a grass field that has been in use since 1949 will represent a dramatic facilities upgrade.

The $3.85 million project is one of the last being funded by a $158 million bond that was approved by voters in 2018, and included major allocations for building expansions, new facilities, renovations and other upgrades throughout the district — including a renovated high school science wing, upgraded and modernized gyms, new libraries, and new locker and weight rooms. This bond was approved after a larger one, for $199 million, was voted down in 2017.

Construction is now underway and will continue through the start of the school year, so the Knights football team will host all of its home games at Cantiague Park, in Hicksville. The soccer teams join football on the new turf next year.

District Superintendent Monique Darrisaw-Akil explained that many students, parents and members of the district have been pushing for what they think their community deserves, and have offered their input on everything from what kinds of facilities the district should have to where they should have them, how to prioritize funding for expansion, and “anything else that they think is in the best interest of the children,” she said.

“The community has been a part of this every step of the way,” Darrisaw-Akil said. “We’re here to represent the entire community that has been pushing for this, fighting for it and paying for it for all these years.”

Peter Cardone, the district’s athletic director, said that students were “overjoyed at the announcement of the new field,” and that the project would boost not only their participation in athletics, but also the excitement and support of the community that supports them — and would, in turn, have a lasting effect on students’ development.

“When you give students the facilities to excel, they will bring pride and positivity to the community,” Cardone said, “and the effects of this will be monumental.”

Other improvements coming this school year to the district include a new tennis court and new bleachers at the high school, to complement the new field, an extension of the high school parking lot and, across the district, freshly painted walls, improvements to doors — including a better locking system — as well as fire alarms and electrical systems, new security vestibules, the installation of steam traps to improve district buildings’ heating systems, and a new irrigation system at the Grand Avenue School.

The field and track are expected to be completed in mid- to late December, too late for the football team to host any games on the new turf this season. Currently only two other high schools in Nassau County, Glen Cove and Oyster Bay, play their home games on grass fields. Hempstead High recently started construction on a new turf field as well.

“We have a phenomenal athletic program,” Darrisaw-Akil said. “Our track program actually made it to the state championship and placed. I think it says something about their sense of pride, their pride in their school district and community, and this investment also lets them know that we're rooting for our kids every step of the way, not just in words, but in our dollars.”