The Freeport Town Council could decide as early as next week whether to sell 17 acres next to the Freeport High School football field on Pownal Road to a nonprofit soccer club.
Seacoast United Maine of Topsham would build an estimated $2.5 million indoor-outdoor soccer facility, where the town would get hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of free playing time.
The vote, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Oct. 26 at Town Hall, will follow more than a year of discussions involving the town, Regional School Unit 5 and the club, which has more than 800 members across southern and central Maine.
The club plans to build two outdoor soccer fields and an indoor soccer arena, said Steve Twombly, the club’s president. “The idea is to have a home sweet home.”
He said the club would continue to lease other facilities where its teams now play, in Topsham and other communities.
The land on Pownal Road was originally purchased by Freeport for recreational use. If the sale is approved, the club would let the town and RSU 5, which includes Freeport, Pownal and Durham, use the facility free for 424 hours a year – a third of them in the indoor facility – for seven years. After that, the town and the school district could lease it at a discount.
The club would be required to develop a Little League baseball field at the site. The deal’s value to the town is estimated at more than $300,000.
Town Councilor Rich DeGrandpre, who is working with RSU 5 on the project, said the school department has been seeking solutions for its limited field space for sports. There are no indoor or lighted soccer fields in Freeport.
DeGrandpre said some details have yet to be worked out. Some comments from the public at a meeting on the proposal this month have prompted changes to the proposed purchase and sales agreement. DeGrandpre said those changes may be posted this week on the town’s website, www.freeportmaine.com.
The estimated cost of the project is $2.5 million, but that’s a preliminary figure, said Mike Healy, a soccer club director.
The facility could generate about $30,000 in property taxes, said DeGrandpre.
A more complete financial analysis of the project is expected to be ready by the meeting on Oct. 26, he said.
Staff Writer Beth Quimby can be contacted at 791-6363 or at: bquimby@pressherald.com
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