Anticipating the possible need for a second softball field next spring, the town is planning on converting one of the two baseball fields on the Ryan land at Depot Road to a softball field. The conversion of that field (the less developed of the two) will mainly involve removing the irrigation system from the infield and replacing the grass there with clay.
At a July 18 Parks and Recreation Commission meeting, Chair Bob O’Shea said a second field will allow the schools to use both the new field and the existing softball field on Ann Lees Road until 5:30 p.m., when they would be turned over to Harvard Youth Baseball and Softball Association players. School softball games would take place only at the Ann Lees Road field, which should have a larger outfield by the time the spring season starts.
The two Ryan land fields are currently used only by HYBSA; school baseball teams play and practice on the Pond Road field. HYBSA President James O’Leary told the Press his organization will make the field conversion work for baseball and softball, but will have to find additional practice space for baseball. However, equity is being addressed within HYBSA. O’Leary said that at a board meeting on Aug. 8, members agreed that, starting next season, “softball and baseball coordinators will work together to ensure field usage and traveling to alternate locations will be shared.”
Earlier this summer, a group of parents of youth softball players brought the need for a second softball field to the School Building Committee. Parents argued that the schools may have both middle school and junior varsity softball teams in the spring, leaving no field time for youth softball. They lobbied for a new softball field in front of the elementary school to replace the two fields that were lost when the new school was built a few years ago.
The baseball diamond on the right at the Ryan Playing Fields on Depot Road will be converted to a softball field. (Photo by Lisa Aciukewicz)
The School Building Committee appointed a Softball Field Review Subcommittee to determine if it would be feasible to put a softball field along Mass. Ave. in place of the small soccer field that was installed there. The subcommittee went so far as to get quotes for engineers to design both a practice and regulation softball field. Two quotes, one for $9,000 and one for $30,000, were submitted. At the subcommittee’s final July 19 meeting, members could not reach a consensus on a recommendation, questioning whether the school “owed” the town a softball field and the wisdom of giving up open space near the center of town.
Two days later, at a School Building Committee meeting, the subcommittee presented its findings with more questions than answers. Arrowstreet architect Larry Spang, who said he was concerned about the amount of grading and soil removal necessary to install a softball field in the proposed location, showed diagrams of two possible field layouts that included contour lines. Spang said retaining walls would be needed along both the first base and third base foul lines of both options to account for elevation changes unless the site could be graded to make it flat. But grading would require soil removal, and the soil there is known to contain arsenic. When the new school was built, soil removal plans had to be modified to keep the cost of hauling the arsenic-laden soil down.
SusanMary Redinger, chair of the SBC, also asked first-grade teacher Pam Chapman to speak about the need for more grassy play space at the elementary school. Chapman said during the last school year when the soccer field site in front of the school was dirt, kids had to play on the cement area by the playground and the basketball court. She said she counted up to 200 kids in that area at one point, and the overcrowding made it dangerous, adding that there were injuries from falls on the cement. “We need that field to expand the play area,” she said. Softball Field Review Subcommittee members said fencing, temporary netting, and the clay infield would make a softball field fairly unsuitable as a play space.
HES field out; Ryan Land field in
Following the presentations, no building committee members were willing to make a motion to go forward with the softball field design, and the idea was dropped. Parks and Rec members had already voted to support the Ryan Land field conversion if the softball field didn’t “fit” at the elementary school. Building committee member Alice von Loesecke said the town needs to quickly find funds to do that conversion. At an Aug. 1 Parks and Recreation Commission meeting, School Committee Chair Abby Besse said the committee is planning to vote on spending up to $50,000 for upgrades to the Ann Lees softball field and the conversion of the Ryan Land field at its next meeting. There is currently no defined scope of work for the Ryan field conversion and no cost estimate. But the hope is that it will be ready in time for the spring 2023 softball season.
This is a short-term solution, according to Assistant Town Administrator Marie Sobalvarro. In a memo to the Select Board, Sobalvarro proposed revisiting a land-swap deal with the Conservation Commission to acquire land on Old Mill Road for a softball field, a proposal the commission voted against a few years ago. Sobalvarro proposed swapping the land next to the beach on Whitman Road, currently under the control of the Parks and Recreation Commission, because of its high conservation value. There is a deed restriction prohibiting permanent structures on the Old Mill Road site, but von Loesecke told the School Building Committee the restriction would not apply to any facilities used for a recreational field.
The Select Board is considering a long-term plan to build an athletic complex somewhere in town that would include sufficient fields to support school and youth sports. At its strategic planning meeting in July, board members agreed the town should first engage a consultant to do a new field needs assessment taking present needs and future trends into account. They acknowledged that completion of such a large project is at least three years away.
