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Select Board to evaluate field sites, aims to winnow list by January

The Press story “Proposal for Small land adds to Harvard’s search for additional athletic fields” provides background information about the Select Board’s search for additional athletic fields. The search began with the board’s goal of identifying land and funding sources for additional athletic fields in town by January. The sites currently under consideration are listed here.

The Small land behind Hildreth Elementary School. A 24-acre wooded area behind the elementary school, it could host two rectangular athletic fields and a ball field, fulfilling the requirements specified in the needs assessment by Gale Associates. The land must be surveyed before buildability and costs can be assessed.

Leasing fields in Devens. Devens officials told Recreation Director Anne McWaters last November that two fields must be leased so one can rest to avoid overuse. Weekday use is readily available, but access on weekends is problematic due to the many tournaments in Devens. According to McWaters, rental was still an option as of last month, but Devens officials told her demand was high. Select Board Chair Rich Maiore told the Press the Devens numbers are not final. “We are double-checking costs and considerations for the use of Devens fields,” he said. Field rental is estimated at $75,000 to $90,000 yearly; busing is approximately $32,500 per year, based on $325 per day for 100 days of spring and fall sports.

A private parcel. Because this is private property and a sale is neither in progress nor a sure thing, the location cannot be disclosed now. However, the Parks and Recreation Commission has filed an application with the Community Preservation Committee for $350,000 to buy land suitable for athletic playing fields from a private seller. “The requested amount is our best guess as to what the seller may ask for the land, but we are waiting on appraisal of the land,” the application said.

An artificial turf field at Harvard Park on the site of the current field. Both Select Board member Charles Oliver and McWaters told the Press they preferred not to pursue this option and thought it had been taken off the table. However, a resident asked at the Nov. 15 Open Space Committee meeting that it be taken into consideration, and Select Board member Rich Maiore agreed at that time. Meanwhile, Parks and Rec has applied to both the Capital Planning and Investment and the Community Preservation committees for $2.55 million to rebuild McCurdy Track and the existing grass field at Harvard Park. Oliver told the Press an artificial turf field could cost more than $4 million due to the usual installation of lights with turf fields, adding that turf isn’t eligible for Community Preservation Act money.

Artificial turf fields are less expensive to maintain and can be used about 2 ½ times more than grass fields over 10 years, according to a cost comparison done for Harvard by Activitas Landscape Architecture and Civil Engineering.

Swapping the Small and Stone parcels. Whether the swap will remain an option is unclear; the School Committee voted against the land swap Nov. 18, but according to Select Board member Rich Maiore, the board has yet to discuss whether it will respond to that vote by dropping the swap. “The town has the final say when transferring control of town land from one committee to the other,” he told the Press Tuesday.

If the swap remains viable, the 24-acre Small land could become conservation land under the jurisdiction of the Conservation Commission instead of the School Committee, while the Stone conservation land would be taken out of conservation and be used as an athletic field; 3.7 of the 6 acres are buildable, enough for a rectangular athletic field and 103 parking spaces. Town Meeting would need to approve the swap. A report by the planning and design firm BSC Group calculated a grand total of $3.6 million to construct the field and parking. The funding source has not yet been identified.

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