CLARIFICATION: A previous version of this used a figure that included debt costs including interest. The figure has been updated to quote just the expected contracted amount.
Town Meeting voters will be asked to approve a nearly $2 million overhaul of Memorial Field that will include installing upgraded field lights, realigning the JV baseball field, and, according to proponents, improving the overall usability of the historic space.
Funding for the project will come from a 20-year bond paid for by Community Preservation Act money. The first year would cost an estimated $180,000 in Community Preservation Funds, and then decline slightly each year until a final payment of about $109,000 in year 20.
The Board of Selectmen will receive a presentation on all proposed Community Preservation Act projects during its meeting Monday night; the School Committee will receive an update on the Memorial Field project at its meeting Tuesday. The Annual Town Meeting is scheduled for April 1 at 7 p.m., at the Middle/High School Auditorium.
Abington High School Athletic Director Peter Serino, who has helped coordinate project planning, said the field is in rough shape after decades of wear, tear, and underinvestment.
“If the town wants to cintinue to have full access to Memorial Field and have it be what it was designed to be, which is a community space to honor veterans and be a home for recreation and civic activity, this is something we absolutely need to do,” Serino said.
In discussing the project, Serino listed off a series of deficiencies with the existing complex.
For example, the field lights date back to 1990, are starting to malfunction, and replacement parts are becoming increasingly hard to find, he said. The field lights also lack shields resulting in a skyward glow that can be seen from Route 18 in conflict with the town’s anti-light pollution bylaw. The junior varsity field hasn’t been updated in more than a decade and features dugouts that essentially cages. The junior varsity and varsity baseball fields back up to each other causing a safety issue for outfielders. Also, the turf and soil in the rear corner of the complex has worn away, leaving behind a ragged subsurface; as a result, its become virtually abandoned by youth and high school athletic teams.
“The dustbowl’s only use really is for football because the surface has deteriorated so bad,” said Serino, referring to back corner’s nickname.
Memorial Field is currently used largely for youth and high school football in the fall, as well as marching band practice. Varsity and junior varsity baseball takes over in the spring. Youth and high school lacrosse and soccer are currently located almost exclusively at the high school fields.
In June, Memorial Field hosts the Founders Day fireworks; it is also home for some of the Oktoberfest activities.
Serino said if the condition of the field space deteriorates further, it would increasingly push high school and youth football practices off Memorial Field and over to the high school fields, creating a crush in demand for time on the new artificial turf and natural grass fields.
“If we don’t do the work within this project, we’re probably going to have to shift [the football] teams up there, which means less time for other sports,” he said.
Serino said he worked with Shawn Reilly, Parks & Rec Field Coordinator Steve Perakslis, who is also the varsity baseball coach, as well as a paid consultant and other town officials to create what is being described on documents as “Phase 1” of a possible larger improvement project.
Phase 1 consists of three main pieces, according to documents filed with the Community Preservation Committee:
- New/improved field lights: The pole located on the visitor’s side of the football field will be taken down and the pole located next to Ralph Hamlin Way will remain up but deactivated. Two new poles will be erected towards the middle of the complex, somewhat opposite of the poles on the home side of the football field. Lights on all stanchions will be replaced with new LED fixtures and bulbs and covered with shields to cut down on nighttime light pollution. The two new poles would have lights on both sides, enabling evening practices all throughout the complex. The lights would not be bright enough to support night baseball games, however.
- New JV baseball field: The field will be relocated into the back corner and aligned so that left field borders the existing tree line along the Shumatuscacant River. The field would also become two acres of additional lighted practice space for athletic teams.
- Improved turf and irrigation: Major portions of the complex will receive new layers of topsoil and turf as well as new irrigation infrastructure.
To make way for the work, two existing youth softball and baseball diamonds at Memorial Field will be removed; the diamond closest to Ralph Hamlin Way will remain.
Serino said if approved the work would create a more workable athletic complex, and restore more than two acres of field space currently either in disrepair, or locked in by existing field alignments.
Possible future phases could include walking trails and exercise stations throughout the complex, reconfigured parking off Ralph Hamlin Way, basketball or pickleball courts, and a storage shed or locker rooms behind the north end zone.
If approved, this project would be the largest single project Abington has funded through the Community Preservation Act, and the first time the town used Act funds to guarantee a multi-year bond.
Community Preservation Committee Chairwoman Amanda Zompetti, said aside from agreeing the work is needed, two factors went into the committee’s decision to recommend the project: that many of the town’s other parks either have been upgraded recently or are in process, and even after paying the annual debt service there would still be some funds left annually for other open space or recreation projects.
This year’s slate of recommended Community Preservation projects includes $60,000 for improvements to the Green Street playground, $50,000 for improved playground options at Island Grove near the pool, and $75,000 for the final phase of work at the new Beaver Brook Playground, she said.
“Knowing we can do other things while still supporting [the Memorial Field project] is what pushed it through,” said Zompetti.
Town Manager Scott Lambiase, DPW Director John Stone, Schools Superintendent Peter Schafer, Veterans Services Agent Adam Gunn, Veterans Memorial Trustees Chairwoman the Rev. Dr. Kristy Coburn, and Parks & Recreation Commission Chairman Rachel Collins signed a letter of endorsement for the project as part of the funding application.
The Finance Committee has also given its blessing to the project and the financing arrangement, committee Chairman Matt Salah said.
Zompetti said the Community Preservation Committee feels the proposed improvements will benefit the town as a whole, not just a couple specific athletic programs.
“This is getting revitalized with town funds, this is a town thing, it’s not just a football or baseball situation,” she said. “Memorial Field is for the town.”
Memorial Field has served as the home of Abington football and other civic events for nearly 100 years. The Veterans Memorial Committee owns more than half of Memorial Field; it acquired the land, which includes the former school building that is now the home of the Lewis Dorsey American Legion Post, from the town back in 1922. The other half of the land, which includes the former Frolio School, is owned by the Town of Abington.
Originally, there was a tree-covered hill in the rear of the complex known as Whiskey Hill; the hill was leveled in 1976 to expand the playing fields. The original wooden Beaver Brook Playground was built in 1990. It was torn down in 2022 and rebuilt in 2023. The light stanchions were erected in 1990 following a community fundraising drive. The original cinder track around the football field was largely removed in 2003 following the construction of Reilly Field. Last year, the baseball infield and portions of right field were dug up and leveled.
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