Football Field Dreams Vanish

Summerville town council unanimously approved Wednesday authorization of spending $235,000 on two restrooms and a truck and trailer, revoking funding for a new football field at Gahagan Sports Complex.

"We find that we don't need the field," Councilman Bob Jackson said.

He cited Dorchester County's proposed Pine Trace park, which would include a field, and possible pending improvements to the fields at Alston Middle School.

But it's also about available funds.

The field, called Butler Street Park adjacent to Gahagan Park, had $225,000 slated for construction. However, even when coupled with a $50,000 donation from Sertoma of Summerville, funding fell well short of the projected $571,820 needed.

Since the money comes from parks and recreation impact fees, it needed to be used by Dec. 31, according to Mayor Bill Collins, who assessed the budget and town needs on Tuesday and added the purchases to Wednesday night's agenda.

"What were hoping to do is redirect this money," Collins said. 

That money will be used for two pre-fabricated restrooms for Azalea Park and Gahagan Park, and a truck and trailer for debris removal in the town's park system.

Collins said he discussed the issue with Jackson, chair of the parks and recreation committee, and decided to put the item on the agenda. 

Now Butler Street Park is likely on hold indefinitely. 

Even with no lights and the donation from Sertoma, the new field would still be $53,000 over budget, according to parks and recreation staff.

And according to Sertoma President Scott Vaughn, the lights are needed for 800 youths to play this fall and winter. Currently, the Sertoma teams play at Alston Middle School's fields, which have dilapidated light structures in need of repair.

Because of the need to have lighted fields, Collins met with Dorchester School District Two Monday to discuss sharing the cost of replacing the lights. The town leases the field from the district in exchange for maintenance and upkeep.

Options were discussed, but nothing has been agreed upon. Collins said the district may foot the bill at Wednesday's meeting. Vaughn said Tuesday if the town and district looked into replacing the lights at Alston, the Sertoma donation may go to that.