AMHERST — Construction of a new track and field at Amherst Regional High School, at a cost of $4.11 million, should begin in late June.

The Amherst Regional School Committee gave unanimous approval on Feb. 11 for M.J. Cataldo Inc. of Littleton to handle the long-awaited project, after determining it is qualified and submitted the lowest of 10 bids, which ranged up to $6.91 million. The bid is $384,000 below cost projections and $400,000 below what is already in hand for the project.

M.J. Cataldo also included in its bid six alternates, or add-ons, including a fence and a concrete bleacher pad, that will be completed within its bid.

Following the vote, there was applause by committee members and shouts of “yeah,” with Chairwoman Sarahbess Kenney offering appreciation to Bob Pereint, the special capital projects coordinator for the town, and Assistant Town Manger David Ziomek.

“This was a whole heap (of work),” Kenney said.

“It’s going to be really exciting, and we’ll start sometime in June, we hope,” Ziomek said.

The main project is designed by SLR Consulting of Agawam and will replace the latex-covered asphalt track, constructed in 1999, with a new eight-lane track. Inside the track will be a reoriented, north-south playing field with a natural grass surface. A second new playing field will be built west of the track.

The track has been in such poor condition that the high school has been unable to host home meets since 2018, while the interior playing field has been plagued with divots and holes and is often wet. A concern with using a grass surface is the drainage and maintenance that will be needed to keep it in good shape.

So far, $4.51 million has been appropriated for the project, and another $176,000 is anticipated from Leverett, where voters at annual Town Meeting will be asked to draw that from their Community Preservation Act account.

Already, Amherst has provided $1.76 million from its CPA account, with Shutesbury contributing $136,000 and Pelham $110,500 from those accounts. Other sources of funding include $1.5 million in debt approved by the regional schools, $900,000 in free cash from Amherst and a $104,840 donation from the Amherst Hurricane Boosters, which is less than what had been sought, but its fundraising was largely contingent on an interior field with synthetic turf, which was removed over objections from health boards over so-called forever chemicals.

Pereint said the town received proposals from 10 contractors, well above the number he anticipated, and three to four were acceptable. “It was great to see 10 bids,” Pereint said.

The low bid means that there will be a 10% contingency. “It’s what we hoped for, and we got there,” Pereint said.

The contractor will have 120 days to complete the work, after the fields are turned over to M.J. Cataldo in late June. The athletic director is aware that there will be a “short-term impact” on fields during the fall sports season, Ziomek said.

In addition to the chain-link fence at the track and a concrete bleacher pad, the other alternatives in the project include walkway improvements along Mattoon Street, LED lights, poles, wiring and controls, a 20-foot high ball safety netting and track run-out chutes on the east side.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.