Here We Go Again!

Unless you live along the Westborough High School property or have a student playing outdoor sports at WHS you may not know that the issue of adding football stadium lights is back. Seventeen years ago after the town agreed to renovate rather than relocate the school to a larger and more remote site, the athletic department at WHS proposed the installation of stadium lights. It was a long, contentious process which resulted in 3 “no” votes at various town meetings. The no vote was due in large part to the close proximity to the historic neighborhood (150-300 feet from the stadium). My family and I moved to 25 Charles Street months after that vote confident in knowing the town had protected the residents of our neighborhood and would not install stadium lighting.

We love our home, enjoy the many daytime activities at the high school and agreed to support the school when they proposed the “week of lights” for spirit week in 2010-2016. While disruptive we wanted to be flexible and provide some opportunities for night sporting events. But here we are again, 17 years later being forced to mobilize our community and support our neighbors in the WHS neighborhood. No other community with a historic district so close to their high school has voted to put such a burden on their neighbors and this includes high schools such as Wellesley and Newton North. Towns like Shrewsbury, that were in the same situation as Westborough when they needed more high school space moved to larger and more isolated part of town.

We have heard conflicting information about the planned use, projected neighborhood impact, and costs from the school department. To date it appears that there are at least 30 events projected to occur after the 7:30 team practice times but this could rise considerably as the school committee receives requests from the community for access to the lighted field. In addition there have been no independent studies of the light and sound impacts to the adjacent residents. There has also been no compelling explanation for lights at this time beyond a general desire to have more outdoor, nighttime activities for the community.

We hope Westborough town voters will attend the October 16^th Town Meeting and join us in rejecting the school’s proposal and help protect the rights of all its citizens.

Peg Fishkind 25 Charles Street Westborough