GORHAM – Residents may vote in June on whether to borrow $3 million for projects including a stadium with a synthetic turf field.

The Town Council is expected to decide Tuesday whether to hold a referendum on the proposal.

The project is part of a multi-phase plan for the 85-acre, town-owned Chick property, at the intersection of routes 25 and 202.

The turf field, lights, bleachers and a building for concessions and a locker room would cost about $2 million, said Town Manager David Cole. The other $1 million would be used to make improvements to the Narragansett School, an elementary school on the same site, and the nearby public safety building.

Cole said the town has “recognized a need for more playing fields for quite some time.”

The turf field, he said, could be used two or three times as often as a natural grass field, which wears easily.

Several high school sports teams, including football, would use the field, said Cole. The high school is about a mile from the proposed stadium.

The other part of the project would create separate drop-off loops for parents and buses at Narragansett School, and additional parking at the school and the public safety building.

The council approved a master plan for the property in 2008. The first phase, completed last year, called for the construction of a road through the site, an expanded parking lot and a storm water detention pond.

The master plan includes five playing fields, but a turf field wasn’t included initially, Cole said.

Early talks about the need for a turf field included the University of Southern Maine. The town and the university, however, decided that each would pursue construction of its own field. The university hopes to complete its field by September, said USM spokesman Bob Caswell.

If the town’s project is approved by councilors and then voters, Cole said, sports teams could start using the field in the fall of 2012.

Staff Writer Leslie Bridgers can be contacted at 791-6364 or at:

lbridgers@mainetoday.com

 

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