Master Plan Addresses Newtown’s Need For Playing Fields

By Jan Howard

Included in the issue of the upcoming vote for the Fairfield Hills Master Plan on August 12 is that of athletic fields, funds for which were included in the July 2001 vote to purchase the property.

Included in the $21.85 million approved was the construction of new playing fields at the Fairfield Hills campus, the cost not to exceed $1.4 million without prior approval of the Board of Selectmen and a two-thirds approval of the Legislative Council.

The master plan proposes adding ten playing fields to the two existing fields at the campus, including four multipurpose fields, two full-size baseball fields, two softball fields and two youth baseball fields. These fields are proposed at locations established in consultation with the Parks and Recreation Commission. (See map of proposed field locations.)

Just as the master plan would be implemented over a period of time, First Selectman Herb Rosenthal said the playing fields would be constructed over a period of ten years.

However, he noted, last week, “Nothing will be happening for fields if the plan is not in place.”

The playing fields proposal is not without some opposition. Some members of the grassroots organization Friends of Fairfield Hills have raised concerns about the closeness of four playing fields to Wasserman Way and the elimination of a dead-end road that now leads to the High Meadow.

Phase two of the Fairfield Hills Campus Proposed Work Program and Cost Estimates prepared by Harrall-Michalowski Associates, Inc dated May 21, 2001, calls for $850,000 in Phase II for construction of playing fields at Fairfield Hills.

According to the plan, the fields can be constructed in a sequence and within a schedule to meet the priorities of the Parks and Recreation Commission and users as well as coordination with other demolition and construction activities proposed in the master plan.

In the summer of 2002, the Parks and Recreation Commission discussed seven different possible field scenarios for an athletic complex. Each complex included the proposal for 12 fields.

The plan that emerged from those discussions favors the removal of Old Mile Hill Road, which is a dead end, to free up space in that area near Kent House for fields.

At that time, Parks and Recreation Director Barbara Kasbarian said, “What we were looking for was fields of the same sport together in the same area and having the fields all in close proximity for maintenance purposes.”

Not all fields will be built at once, and Parks and Recreation labeled two 90-foot baseball fields as top priority.

Consultants have said that the eventual cost of the 12 fields would fall within the $1.4 million in financing at the June 2001 town meeting.