Stonington — The lowest of four bids to install artificial turf at Palmer Field at Stonington High School has come in at $131,000 less than expected.

The town opened four bids for the project Thursday afternoon.

The companies that bid on the project were required to have installed four turf fields over the past five years to be eligible for consideration.

The apparent low bidder is RAD Sports of Rockland, Mass., which bid $969,000. The town had estimated the field would cost $1.1 million.

The second-lowest bidder was Milton Beebe of Storrs, which bid $971,000.

Director of Public Works Joe Bragaw said Thursday afternoon that RAD Sports has installed numerous fields, including one at Cheshire High School that town and school officials visited, as well as a field at the Naval Submarine Base in Groton and the baseball field at the University of Rhode Island.

The other two bids were in the $1.1 million to $1.2 million range.

On Monday, the Athletic Field Improvements Oversight Committee is scheduled to decide exactly what type of turf to install and whether to have a field with solid green turf or one that has alternating panels of light green and dark green.

Bragaw said the town will also check the firm’s references and then sign a contract. Work is slated to begin this spring and be completed by the end of August.

The football, lacrosse, field hockey and soccer teams will use the field. A 30-foot, brown “S” will be in the middle of the field, which will be lined for the different sports.

Voters approved the $2.7 million project to build the artificial turf field and repair the grass fields last year. Work to rebuild the softball, boys’ soccer and field hockey fields will begin after the artificial turf field is done.

That work is projected for completion in 2014. Improvements also will be made to other parts of the athletic complex.

j.wojtas@theday.com