by Brian Keaney

Town Meeting will be asked to vote on a $4.29 million improvement to the athletic facilities at the High School next month, to coincide with the construction of a proposed new Avery School.  School Committee member Tom Ryan and Selectman Mike Butler presented the plan to the School Committee on Wednesday, and they were joined by High School Principal Jake Santamaria at the Finance Committee hearing last night.

A new turf would be installed at Stone Park that would be large enough to accommodate all field sports at the High School, including football, soccer, field hockey and lacrosse, as well as the marching band.  Surrounding it would be a new track with six lanes all the way around and eight on the straight-aways.

The field would also receive new home bleachers and press box, a new scoreboard and public address system, and lights for night games.  Currently the stadium has seating for 2,275 people.  Under this proposal that would be reduced to 1,500.

Reducing the number of seats is designed to keep down the costs of expanding and renovating the concession stand and bathrooms.  State code requires a certain number of toilets for every seat, however the code was written with large facilities such as Gillette Stadium in mind, Butler said.

Butler said it was likely that the Town would be able to receive a waiver to reduce the number of facilities needed, but it was unclear by how much.  They are budgeting $500,000 for bathrooms, which Butler said reflects a waiver of 50%. 

With a 50% waver 14 toilets and water closets would be required, with an additional number of sinks.  Butler said it may be possible to receive a waiver reducing by two-thirds the number needed, bringing the price down to $185,000.

In the proposed budget a figure of $700,000 was attached to complete the bathrooms and concession stand.  This figure was too high for Finance Committee member Bill Podolski.

“I drive around Dedham and I see a $700,000 house,” Podolski said, “and they have four bathrooms.”

A new track and a turf field will cost $1.55 million.  Santamaria said that the last time anything had been done to the field was 20 years ago when the Boosters Club paid for new sod.  At one time it was the best in the Bay State Conference, but now it is “old and antiquated,” he said.

An artificial turf field will allow more use of the field with fewer maintenance costs, officials say.  Placing turf on the practice field was also considered at one point, but dropped due to price considerations.  The practice field will be improved, leveled, and reseeded separately as part of the Avery School construction, should that project be approved by voters.

The field also slopes from the southwest to northeast corner by about four feet.  Butler joked that he enjoys running on the back stretch of the track most of all because it is a downhill. 

Santamaria said the track itself was in “deplorable condition.”  More than 15 years ago it was resurfaced, and Santamaria, who was Athletic Director at the time, said he felt it was a stop gap measure then.  He showed photos to the Finance Committee of spots where the surfacing has completely worn away.

If any work is done on the field, the bleachers will also have to be addressed, if only to make them handicapped accessible, architect Don Walter told the School Committee.  If the bleachers are altered, that will trigger a requirement to bring the bathrooms up to code as well.

 A sum of $450,000 is being budgeted for new bleachers and a new press box.  Santamaria said that the home bleachers are in poor condition and that sections of them are often roped off to prevent injuries.  The home bleachers were constructed along with the school in 1958. 

Architects are still not sure if visitors bleachers will fit on the opposite side of the field, though school officials have expressed a preference for retaining them.  The visitor’s bleachers were erected in 1999 and if they fit may be reused.

The Wendy Clement Press Box is also in poor condition, Santamaria said.  He added that despite repeated repairs that they may have to prohibit cameramen and coaches from standing on top of it in the near future. 

Also included in the proposal are an additional two tennis courts to be placed next to the existing courts in the pool parking lot.  Santamaria said that at one time the High School had 11 tennis courts, but over the years that has been reduced to three.  As a result, many visiting schools do not bring their junior varsity or freshmen players, and if they do then matches do not end until 8 p.m.

Ryan reminded Committee members that when the School Committee considered leaving the Bay State Conference last spring that an athletic director from a neighboring town told them that they should instead consider upgrading the facilities in order to make the athletic programs more competitive. 

“If you look at surrounding communities,” Ryan said, “every town Dedham plays has a new field with turf” with few exceptions.  “This is not something extravagant or out of the norm.  This is what public schools in the area have, and something Dedham should have.”

School Building/ Rehabilitation Committee Chairman Andy Lawlor said that because the Avery School project and the athletic facilities were so close to one another that it would be advantageous to do them together. 

“The sites impact each other and it makes all the sense in the world to have the same architects design both at the same time, the same project manager overseeing both projects at the same time, so they seamlessly integrate together,” Lawlor said.