A major overhaul of Dartmouth Memorial Stadium is moving forward as an architectural firm has been brought on board to help with initial planning.

At the February 12 School Committee meeting, members appointed the Weston & Sampson architectural firm to begin examining the current conditions of the aging stadium and come up with plans to move forward, according to School Business Administrator James Kiely.

“I gave them a tight timeline to work with,” Kiely said. “We are asking them to have a report back to us in April. That’s not a lot of time to do the work they need to do, but they are well aware of it and are ready to go as soon as we give them the go-ahead.”

The firm was one of eight submissions received after Town Meeting authorized $50,000 to seek an architect's services. The bid came in at $46,300, under what was initially allotted.

The renovation of the facility, which Kiely has in past meetings noted suffers from inadequate lighting, accessibility issues with the grandstands, and poor field conditions, has been listed as a priority to the district for a number of years, but has been dropped due to budget constraints.

Last year, after the project was again dropped, a new committee was formed to guide the project forward. The committee elected to hire an architect to study current field conditions and come up with recommendations.

School Committee members hope to see the project move forward.

“I hope we can move forward, because it’s a priority and desperately needed for a lot of reasons, and not just for the schools,” said Chair Shannon Jenkins.

Member Kathleen Amaral added the project could also benefit everyone from athletes to the general community.