New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Athletic fields’ cost depends on timing
BRANFORD — New athletic fields around the newly expanded and renovated Francis Walsh Intermediate School will cost more than $5.4 million, the school board was told this week.
And that cost is only if the project can be done in its entirety during summer 2022, according to Michael Losasso, an architect from Antinozzi and Associates who presented the updated plans to the Board of Education at its monthly meeting.
The all-purpose, synthetic turf field alone, a primary component of the plan, would cost $1.25 million.
“It’s clear this field will be used regularly,” Losasso said. The recovery of the field will be easier with an all-purpose turf surface, he added.
Soft costs, such as insurance, design fees and hiring a project manager for the project, would add to the cost.
The 29-acre Damascus Road site also would have a grass practice field, a redeveloped softball field, a new synthetic track, a baseball field and a field hockey field.
The project also includes replacement of storage sheds, bottle-filling stations, electrical service and outdoor toilets, as well as improved drainage throughout.
Drainage and an irrigation system throughout the site, which is located in a 500-year flood plain zone, also would be improved by raising the grade and installing perimeter drains.
Fields on the property historically have had issues with water.
Currently, there are no plans to install lights on the fields.
The school originally was built in 1972. Its fields are used not only by the intermediate school but the town’s Parks and Recreation Department.
Losasso said town officials have been consulting in developing the plan and generally were supportive of the proposal.
So were members of the school board, with one exception.
Board member Marie Watson wondered why the site could not support a baseball field with 90-foot base paths instead of the existing 60-foot base paths.
There are six Little League fields in town and only two regulation-size baseball fields, she said.
“They should have a field here,” said Watson. “I do not want to see another Little League field here. If we can’t put a 90-foot base path field in, I would like to see no baseball field, personally.”
She and others suggested a baseball field could be made to overlap a portion of the adjoining fields.
Losasso said a study was done with the 90-feet bases and suggested another look would be taken to see whether that portion of the
plan could be reworked.
Losasso, whose firm also worked on the Walsh renovation project, was asked to look into the possibility of locally sourcing the fill that would be used to raise the grade of the fields.
The board did not vote on the plan. It is anticipated the project will be included in the district’s capital budget plan.
The architect said cost estimates for the project are based on the work being completed in a single, continuous
phase in summer 2022.
Doing it over two summers would add to the cost, he said. Other uncertainties are supply chain issues and a volatile market for materials.