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Following the June 2 presentation of a draft Fields Needs Assessment, the Park and Recreation Commission met on Monday, June 9 to discuss the findings and begin the process of planning and sequencing future projects.
While the discussion was wide-ranging, it became apparent that projects at Broadacres Farm/Featherland Park and Feeley Field would be high priorities for the commissioners moving forward.
The Fields Needs Assessment called for consideration of 2-3 new baseball fields on the Broadacres Farm parcel along Morse Road, and potentially converting a softball field into another baseball field. The assessment also recommended completing Phase 2 of the ongoing Feeley Field improvement project, which would include a drainage solution for the lower Feeley softball fields. The assessment also suggested converting the baseball field at Feeley to a softball field.
Those projects would cluster youth baseball and softball into one primary location for each sport, which was a theme in the Fields Needs Assessment. However, members of the commission did not appear fully sold on the concept on June 9.
A Complex Puzzle of Fields, Uses, and Amenities
There was significant discussion about Davis Field and Parkinson Field on Monday, as well. Commissioners voiced concern that if the town didn’t use Davis Field for recreation programs or permitting, another group might try to repurpose the land for a different use such as open space or conservation. Park and Recreation Director Dennis Mannone told the commissioners that he intended to locate several local user groups at Davis Field this fall, which would provide an opportunity to rest some of the fields at Haskell Field. Overuse of Haskell was a significant concern for Mannone, who added that while total participation in youth sports may not be growing significantly, but the breadth and frequency of programs, leagues, and clinics was expanding steadily.
Parkinson Field emerged as a bit of a conundrum for the Park and Recreation Commission. It’s actively used for Lincoln-Sudbury’s ultimate frisbee teams, but is not well-suited for heavy usage due to the limited parking, narrow driveway, and complicated location adjacent to a local business. Mannone voiced concerns about safety if a major sport, such as soccer, were to start using the fields for travel games before the driveway situation is sorted out. The Town of Sudbury is currently studying the driveway to develop options, if any, for improved access to the fields.
But the complexity didn’t stop there. Commissioners discussed how the presence or absence of certain amenities, like bathrooms and field lights, can influence the use of each space. For example, adding a lighted artificial turf field at Haskell could have implications for what the town does on other parcels like Davis Field.
While the opportunities for improvement were not lacking, it became clear that the sequencing of projects would be critical for meeting the near-term and long-term needs of the town.
Money Matters
Eventually the conversation led to funding considerations. Sudbury’s Park and Recreation department has depended largely on Community Preservation Act (CPA) funding to advance major field improvement projects, and that will continue to be a desirable source of funding. However, CPA funds cannot be used for artificial turf fields, which many commissioners agreed should be a priority. Artificial turf fields can be used more heavily than grass fields, and are not as easily damaged in rainy conditions.
The idea was that adding artificial turf fields would reduce the burden put on grass fields when rainy stretches of weather force teams to reschedule games and pack fields like Haskell on the select few days that are playable. Members discussed the potential to pursue grant funding for artificial turf fields once the Open Space and Recreation Plan is complete.
One of the challenges the commission will have to navigate is the funding cycles for municipal projects. They’ll have to abide by the Community Preservation Committee’s annual timeline for CPA-funded projects, and those still have to get approved at Annual Town Meeting each year. Each grant the department might pursue is subject to its own timeline, and the department will have to stage project execution based on capacity to manage them. This added another factor to the sequencing conversation. While the commissioners might prioritize one project over another in an ideal scenario, they may need to prioritize projects that have readier access to capital.
Schools Fields Hot Potato
One new angle emerged during the discussion, relating to the athletic fields at the Sudbury Public Schools (SPS) school properties. Combined Facilities Director Sandra Duran encouraged the commissioners to engage in the ongoing conversations about the Memorandum of Agreement that establishes a shared services model for the Town and the schools for facilities management. That agreement also makes the Town of Sudbury responsible for maintenance and permitting of the Sudbury Public Schools playing fields. (Page 51)
The Park and Recreation commissioners seemed to have ruled out SPS fields as outside of their jurisdiction. Following Duran’s comments, there appeared to be some appetite to have further discussions about maintenance of the SPS fields. Most of the SPS fields border on disrepair, receiving consistently low marks of “Fair” and “Poor” in the Fields Needs Assessment. However, SPS fields are subject to greater limitations for maintenance, particularly when school is in session.
Slow Going
While there was much enthusiasm about the potential to make improvements to Sudbury’s recreational assets, the reality on the ground has been less than invigorating. The Feeley Field Phase 2 project was approved at Annual Town Meeting in 2023, and hasn’t gone out to bid two years later. The SMILE playground improvements at Haskell Field were approved by Town Meeting in 2021, and that work is supposed to begin in earnest later this month—four years after approval.
The Feeley project was deliberately delayed while the Recreation department was awaiting the findings of the Fields Needs Assessment, but as of Monday there was still no firm timeline set for initiation, let alone completion, of the project. The SMILE playground project was interrupted, in part, because of the construction of the new Fairbank Community Center, and the need for the Recreation department to use the playground for their summer camp.
The bigger challenge appears to be the capacity of the department to manage major capital projects while also running a self-sustaining, fee-based operation. Even some field maintenance has been contracted out to private service providers because the Town doesn’t have capacity to maintain all of its current fields.
The Park and Recreation Commission has advocated effectively for CPA investments in Sudbury’s recreational assets in recent years, but there’s a backlog of fully-funded projects to clear out before any real action can be expected on the Fields Needs Assessment. And much of what is contained in the Fields Needs Assessment isn’t all that new. Indeed, several of the recommendations date 10 to 20 years back to the last Fields Needs Assessment, as well as a 2009-2013 Open Space and Recreation Plan that references a 2004 Athletic Fields Master Plan. While plans repeatedly call out the town’s quantified recreation needs over the years, comparatively little has changed from one Fields Needs Assessment to the next.
While the Park and Recreation commissioners were eager to build momentum behind the Fields Needs Assessment and forthcoming Open Space and Recreation Plan, they were pragmatic about how long it would take to implement everything needed to truly optimize Sudbury’s recreation assets. The implementation is likely a decades-long pursuit, particularly in the face of tightening municipal finances across the state. For Sudbury’s Park and Recreation advocates, the new plans may not be breaking any news, but they may present an opportunity to break the plan-delay-plan again cycle.
