The Concord City Council will hold a public hearing to approve a total of $1.2 million for final design and permitting of the Memorial Field proposal this upcoming Tuesday.
After years of master planning, deliberation and debate, the Joint Memorial Field committee approved a plan. The “new Option A” focuses on addressing the core needs of the complex while keeping a nearly identical layout of the existing athletic fields and requires funding to move forward.
As part of the agreement between the city, which owns the park, and the Concord School District, which uses the park for most of its outdoor high school sports, the two are splitting the cost evenly.
The school district had already approved $600,000 earlier this year for a proposal that would have significantly altered the layout of the field. The city council did not approve of the plan and tabled the report and recommendation. The committee revisited the proposal to lower costs.
The new Option A, as outlined by Parks and Recreation Director David Gill, would expand the track with a new multi-sport artificial turf field big enough for all field sports. The bleachers would seat an estimated 1,000 to 1,500 fans.
Elsewhere on the site, the current varsity soccer/lacrosse field would be re-done as the drainage system underneath must be fixed, with field lighting included if the field is converted to artificial turf. Baseball and softball would also receive improvements, including “new or improved bleachers, drainage, fencing, and field lighting.”
The JV football field and other grass fields would be re-done to improve drainage, while remaining natural grass. The existing bathrooms and maintenance area would be replaced, but not relocated. The parking lot will also be expanded slightly, but not by much due to the high cost of re-grading the slope to accommodate more parking.
The estimated total cost of the project, not including the $1.2 million, would be $13.9 million. The public hearing is to allow the council to accept the donated portion from the school district and appropriate $600,000 from the city toward the design and permitting phase.