BROOKFIELD — Both football players and spectators at Brookfield Local Schools athletic events will have something to look forward to Friday night.

That’s because the stadium turf project at George A. Nicholas Field, for which crews began prep work in May, is complete.

On Wednesday, the Brookfield Board of Education, Athletic Director Ken Forsythe, high school football Coach Randy Clark, Superintendent Toby Gibson and Treasurer Jordan Weber cut a ribbon to mark the ceremonial opening of its new synthetic turf football field — ahead of the team’s opening game against Hubbard.

Gibson expressed his gratitude to the groups and events that made the turf project possible, crediting the Brookfield Golf Scramble, Warrior Turf Foundation 333 Club and the Cafaro Foundation.

He also recognized the board of education for its support and commitment to the project, as well as Clark for his determination in fundraising to ensure its success.

“This project represents more than just an upgrade to our stadium; it symbolizes progress, opportunity and the strong partnerships that make achievements like this possible,” Gibson said. “This new turf enhances our athletic programs, provides a safer and more durable playing surface and opens the door to new opportunities — from school competitions to community events.”

“It is an investment to our youth, our school spirit, and the future of our township,” Gibson added.

The project cost $1 million, according to Gibson.

Weber discussed some of the challenges the turf project faced during the workshop session ahead of their regular school board meeting — such as excavation.

“We were very fortunate that AstroTurf had the ability for us to get a second crew out there and, in 11 days, finish something that was already a couple of weeks behind schedule,” Weber said.

“Finish it early enough, not like last year, when I think we finished our bleacher project the day of the first game.”

Board member Jerry Necastro said he was “surprised” when doing one of the final walkthroughs with an AstroTurf representative, who had said the more use the field gets, the better it becomes.

“He had said, put as many, whether it be soccer, football, youth, band, gym classes — the more use it gets, if everything settles in, the better the turf gets,” Necastro said. “I would hope that baseball, softball — I would hope that everybody uses it — which would just be a benefit for all of us.”

Weber said one of the things that has been discussed is mats that could be used to play baseball on the field, so it didn’t get “extra wear” in places such as the batter’s box.

“We’ll definitely get as much use out of it as we can, in the vein of athletic facilities,” Weber said.

Weber said the field’s opening means the board can move onto phase three — concessions and restrooms.

Gibson said they had a “set of plans” for the facilities that were put on hold with the turf installation.

“We’ll sit down with the architect here in a couple of weeks, revisit those plans, finalize the bid specs and put that out to bid probably this fall,” Gibson said. “Whoever gets awarded that bid, if they want to start after the season, they can do that to get a head start on the spring.”

Gibson said he understands there have been statistics about artificial turf causing more injuries, but said he doesn’t see student-athletes having more injuries on it.

“You can go around and around; I think if you Google, you can see data on both sides of it,” Gibson said. “I’ve coached high school football for 21 to 22 years; we’ve had kids blow their knees out on grass. I don’t see us having more knee injuries on turf than on grass. I think if it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen — it’s accidental. I don’t think the surface plays into it.”