The Open Space Committee (OSC) and the Parks and Recreation Commission have voted to endorse a proposal this month for an athletic field complex estimated to cost $4.5 million. The long-term project is expected to take five years to complete and will be presented to the Capital Planning and Investment Committee on Oct. 1 for approval.
The proposal, requested by the Harvard Public Schools, addresses the need for additional playing fields to accommodate students, athletes, and residents, as current fields have become overcrowded and overused. If CPIC approves the application, work will begin on identifying a location for the proposed 6 acres of land needed for the complex. The proponents estimate the purchase of land for the fields would cost $1 million, while construction of the field and amenities would come to an estimated $3.5 million. Grants and funding opportunities will also be identified upon approval.
Superintendent of Schools Linda Dwight, vice chair of the Harvard Athletic Association Paul Cohen, and OSC board member Dan Daly wrote this proposal and intend to bring it before the School Committee for its endorsement at the committee’s next meeting. Both the OSC and Parks and Rec unanimously voted to approve the proposal at their meetings on Sept. 9 and Sept. 30.
While the draft proposal is still being developed, Daly emphasized the new complex would be expected to serve 25 to 50% of residents directly. “We have thousands of individual participants and users in the course of a year,” Daly said, referencing the number of people coming to existing fields in Harvard for soccer alone.
Prospective features of the complex include two natural turf fields that are compliant with the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association along with facilities for concessions, ticketing, spectating, bathrooms, and parking. A fence around the perimeter of the complex and netting between the two fields were also discussed at the Parks and Rec meeting on Sept. 20. The initial proposal did not specify netting, but Keith Bilafer, a member of Parks and Rec, said that it would minimize interference during field use, even though it would be costly.
“We were talking about the entire project being completed in five years,” said Dwight. “So there would be steps in between which would be the acquisition of the land and then the construction work.”
