Farewell, Old Sacred Heart Building

The Sacred Heart building, a deteriorating eyesore for many years at Deborah Sampson Park, the Town's popular recreation area, is well on its way out, courtesy of Regional Industrial Services of Bellingham, whose low bid of $68,277 won the demolition job. This is less than one-quarter of the expected cost. The firm was asked to spare adjacent large trees if possible, and it seems to be working carefully with this in mind.

At the same time, Beals-Thomas of Southborough was hired to design a recreation field for the sum of $31,150, about $9,000 more than the lowest bid from a local designer. The Town's Request for Proposals (RFP) specified, "The Reuse Committee, Selectmen, and residents have agreed that a recreation field to accommodate [both] organized sports and general recreation uses would be most appropriate use . . . utilizing the site as a general recreation area. . . for kite flying, Frisbee, and other nonorganized recreational uses while also . . . for an active practice sports field . . . for scheduled soccer, lacrosse, football, field hockey . . ." This specification for a shared, multipurpose field reflects the conclusions of the Sacred Heart Reuse Committee (SHRC) after meetings with residents, including recreation groups; its proposal to the Community Preservation Commitee (CPC); and the understanding of the Town Meeting voters who endorsed the CPC's recommendation for funding.

All residents are asked to attend two public forums, on Thursdays, May 23 and June 6, at the Community Center (7 p.m.) to inform Beals-Thomas what are their desired uses and characteristics of the recreation field. This Town recreation area should be made attractive to all sorts of "stakeholders." For instance, I believe fencing that encloses a field on all four sides discourages the general public from using it, and the SHRC discussed the need for some fencing to guide paths to the Dog Park and to separate the field from parking. The RFP stated, "Based on community meeting feedback," Beals-Thomas is tasked with determining an "optimal site configuration" and presenting a final concept plan to the Selectmen.

At an initial planning meeting on May 9, Beals-Thomas inexplicably introduced considerations of artificial turf. This is clearly unsuitable for a field to be shared by parents and children of all ages as well as practice sports play, and one hopes that such unsuitable culs-de-sac will be avoided in creating a plan that will appeal to most "stakeholder" users in Town. Funding for field construction will be sought at CPC and November Town Meeting.