by John Osborn ·
Friday, December 12, 2025
Advocates for a new athletic field on Old Mill Road assured the Select Board and voters this fall that private donors were ready to contribute to the cost of its design and construction. Last week, the first donation arrived, a $20,000 gift from a longtime Harvard resident.
The donor was Paul Green of Old Littleton Road who in a Nov. 12 letter notified Town Administrator Dan Nason and Finance Director Jared Mullane that he was prepared to donate $20,000 to the project, to be used for “for designing, constructing, and maintaining” the 6-acre Arnold parcel. “If for any reason this project does not proceed within the next five years,” Green wrote, “then this donation may be used for similar purposes for any of the town recreation fields.”
Donations to the town are tax deductible, but every donation must be approved by the Select Board, according to Nason. At its Dec. 2 meeting the board voted unanimously to accept Green’s gift. In an email to the Press, Nason said that while no special account had been created for field project donations, Green’s gift and others that follow will be tracked by the town’s accounting software.
“I am blown away by Paul’s generosity,” said Select Board Vice Chair SusanMary Redinger at last week’s meeting. “This was one of the reasons we brought back the field project for a second vote,” she said. “Members of the community stepped up to defray some of the development costs “and [Green] is the first person to have put money down. We are very appreciative of him for doing that.”
Town Meeting narrowly approved purchase of the $440,000 parcel this fall, paid for with money appropriated from the town’s Capital Stabilization and Investment Fund. Before construction can begin, however, the Conservation Commission must first rule that abutting wetland lands will not be affected—and that requires a plan. There is no money for such work in this fiscal year’s budget. If planning for a new field is to begin before July 1, 2026, private money will be essential.
Green was a leading advocate for a new field, a founder of the Home Field Project along with James O’Leary, president of the Harvard Athletic Association. In brief phone conversations with the Press, Green and O’Leary said that supporters of the new field have pledged a “substantial amount” toward its construction. Green said the Home Field Project hoped to raise enough to pay for design of the new field and jump start work on the project this fiscal year. Green and O’Leary were unwilling to disclose either the number of contributors or the total amount pledged thus far.
For further information, email harvard.homefield@gmail.com or contact Assistant Town Administrator Dawn Dunbar or Finance Director Mullane.