PLAYING FIELD CHALLENGES in Somerville

SNN VIDEO ON FIELD CHALLENGES

Somerville, MA, July 1, 2014 - Some of the city’s 18 playing fields are in bad shape, and almost all of them need to be repaired or renovated in one way or another. Parents, athletes, and City Hall all know that something needs to be done, but not everyone agrees on the timeline.

On a recent morning, parent and the former president of the Somerville Youth Soccer League walked around the dusty playing field at Lincoln Park. Every few moments, he bent over and picked up shards of glass. His son Simon found a giant rusty nail.

“The materials that were used when they put this field back in seem to be bubbling up pieces of glass,” Easton told Somerville Neighborhood News.

Another problem at Lincoln is that the field is “a hard-packed surface and it has not been maintained properly or aerated properly or watered properly, so you’ve got these areas of dry patch that are very compacted and hard,” according to Easton.

City officials have been conscious of the problems at Lincoln Park and other recreational fields for several years. A study by Gale Associates in late 2012, commissioned by the city, noted that many of the 18 fields – one owned by Tufts and five on state property – are overused, are in “fair to poor” condition, and lack proper drainage and handicap access to seating areas. Lincoln Park field was used almost over 1,200 times in 2013, while others were underused, according to Arn Franzen, director of Parks and Open Space for City of Somerville.

“It isn’t right that Lincoln Park should have 1,200 uses and perhaps another field, even if it’s not desirable, has very few,” he said.

Gale Associates has recommended that the city convert between two and five natural grass fields to artificial turf (right now the city has two artificial turf fields), that it build a proper field at Draw Seven and that it try to gain management control of that state property and Foss Park, both owned by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation. Two of the fields at Foss are little more than dust bowls.

In April, Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone convened a “Fields Task Force” – headed by Alderman Mary Jo Rossetti – to look at the Gale’s recommendations while he negotiates with the state.

“He’s pursuing several options,” Franzen said. “Either direct ownership or control of those spaces.”

Many parents are frustrated with the slow pace of improvements, especially at Lincoln Park. Almost two years ago, the city paid $150,000 for a renovation plan, which was then scraped when residents complained of not being consulted.

The new process is more participatory, but is moving more slowly that some would like. The previous Lincoln Park meeting was last fall. There won’t be another one until September, according to Franzen, because the city wants to consider and make decisions on all of the recreation fields, and on the issue of natural vs. artificial turf, at the same time.

Easton – who said he is neither pro- or anti-artificial turf – noted that the slow pace of decision-making frustrates him.

“I just want to see something happen here first and foremost,” Easton said as he stood in Lincoln Park with his handful of glass shards. “It has been too long and nothing has been done.”

Franzen noted that planning and funding renovations of Lincoln Park field and other fields takes time, “whether it’s putting the funding in place or gathering the information that you need to make the best plans and to really address the alternatives.”

The next Fields Task Force meeting is on July 14 at 6:30 pm.