NASHUA, NH – Stellos Stadium was closed on October 2 due to unsafe conditions of the field.
The news came as an upset to many in Nashua, with residents going before the board of aldermen to express their frustration on Oct. 8.
During public comment, it was suggested that it has been known that the condition of the field was unsafe since 2023. It has also been unclear as to who owns, or is responsible for, Stellos Stadium. Here is what we know.
Condition of the field
According to the school district’s athletic director Lisa Gingras, the decision to close was a collaborative decision between herself, the superintendent of Parks and Recreation, and the athletic director at Bishop Guertin. After noticing that the field was deteriorating, they had an inspector from Firefly Sports Testing inspect the field last week.
“After that inspection, it was deemed that in the best interest of the safety for our student athletes to close the stadium for the remainder of the fall season,” Gingras said.
According to the report by Firefly, the average GMAX score for the field was 184 [see documentation below[. The minimum score was 158 and the maximum was 229.
GMAX is a unit of measurement that tests for head impact attenuation or how much the turf would absorb the shock. In other words, how hard the field is.
Stellos Stadium is GMAX tested each year by New England Turf management.
According to Roger Clough who tested the field in 2022, 2023, and 2024, the measurement is found by dropping the GMAX machine three times into 10 different points on the field. The first number is discarded, and the second two results are averaged together to get a result for each individual zone.
All of those numbers are averaged together for one average score for the entire field. That number is what is used to determine the safety of the field. Other factors are also considered when determining how safe a field is.
“Once you get above 200, the risk of a fatal head trauma starts increasing. Below 200 there is no risk,” Clough said. “So typically above 200 they call it ‘not safe for play’.”
While he said a score of 200 would be borderline, he said he would consider that score to not be safe for play.
In 2022, the average score was 184. The minimum was 158 and the maximum was 229.
In 2023, the average score was 165, with a minimum score of 139 and a maximum score of 199.
In July 2024, the average score was 184, the minimum score was 136, and the maximum score was 259.
The current turf was installed in 2012 and was to last 10 years under normal use. According to Alderman Richard Dowd, the amount of use Stellos sees is heavier than what would be considered normal use.
He said the GMAX scores have been bad for the last two or three years, and that the last few reports have suggested that they replace the field but that it was okay to play on. Since then, some parts of the field have worn down right to the dirt, which prompted the test by Firefly.
Who “owns” Stellos Stadium?
“Because the monies to build the stadium were monies from the state on school building funds, the stadium had to always remain in the ownership and control of the school department,” Dowd said.
Day to day maintenance – such as emptying trash cans – is done by the Department of Public Works.
Any capital expenditures relating to the field have to go through the Board of Education. Projects costing more than $1,000,000 typically go to the Joint Special School Building Committee (JSSBC), made up of five members of board of education, and five aldermen, including Dowd.
The Board of Education Finance and Operations committee voted to request funding from the Board of Aldermen and to assign the project to the JSSBC in January. JSSBC took up the project in July.
Since the GMAX scores have been poor for the last few years, Dowd said that the school department has had it on the capital budget improvements program for the last three or four years, but that it never got a high enough priority ranking to move it to the front of the line.
Dowd has since become part of the capital improvements committee and this year he voted Stellos as top priority.
For work to be done on the turf, it has to be passed by the budget review committee and then the full board of aldermen.
“I’m pretty sure it will pass the full board too, because it’s an important project,” Dowd said.
“We’re hoping that we can get it done this fall. If not, first thing in the spring.”