Athletic Field Improvements Coming to Providence Academy

Plymouth’s Planning Commission unanimously signed off on Providence Academy athletic field improvements last week.

The city has, in effect, approved a master plan for the site, recognizing that it will take a number of years to be built out, Planning Manager Barb Thomson said at the June 5 meeting. All phases proposed are integrated in design and materials. Providence Academy last went before the city in 2008, and talks about the site go back to 1999.

Still, any major change must go through the normal approval process.

This time around, Providence Academy wants to:

• Move the football field/track about 10 feet east and 33 feet south of the plan presented in 2008. It would install a seasonal dome over the field for the winter months.
• Move the tennis courts four feet to the west and rotate them.
• Build a concessions/restroom building south of the football field/track that would serve as the main entrance for the seasonal dome.
• Build a baseball field in the south part of campus.
• Put in a lighted ice skating rink south of the football field.

Most of that is in line with the plan devised in 2008 and city ordinances. However, Providence is asking for variances for the dome and athletic field fencing to be taller than allowed. Plans envision a 66-foot-tall dome, bigger than the 35 feet that ordinances allow.

“It would be hard to do a seasonal dome and meet the requirements of the district,” Thomson said.

The school is asking permission for fencing around the athletic fields that is to be six to eight feet tall, with 16- and 20-foot backstops and 40-foot high removable netting by the baseball field.

The school’s existing agreement with the city only allows for fencing that is five feet tall with six-foot-tall decorative columns, aside from the main entrance.

The plan is scheduled to go before City Council on June 25.