The Gorham Town Council Tuesday authorized spending $265,000 for baseball field lights and a flag pole at the Little Falls Recreation Complex on Gray Road.
The board voted 5-2 with Councilors Rob Lavoie and Virginia Wilder Cross opposed. Federal money provided by the American Rescue Plan Act will pay for the project.
“This project will benefit the Gorham community for years to come,” Councilor Phil Gagnon, who sponsored the item, said Wednesday. “Gorham has a strong baseball/softball community, and hopefully the lights will continue to grow the program.”
Greg Norton, Gorham Little League president, told councilors before Tuesday’s vote that field space is at “a premium” in town. The cost of the lights is a fraction of what it would cost to construct a new ballfield, Gagnon said.
Lights at the Little Falls field will immediately double the time it can be used, Norton said.
“This means more games and practices for our rapidly growing program, all without building a new field or taking up more recreation space in Gorham,” Norton said.
Little Falls field lights also open up the opportunity for Gorham to host tournaments, such as district all-star tournaments, which would bring bring visitors to Gorham businesses, including to the “newly-built town concessions building on the site.”
The field is well positioned to become a focal point for sports in the area, Gagnon said. Little League board member Todd Bacon has done a lot of work recently to improve the field, he said, and the town has a master plan to revitalize Little Falls Village.
Town Councilor Rob Lavoie, however, said the town would have more bang for its buck by lighting the middle school field.
The Robie Park ballfield and the high school diamond currently have lights.
Previous Gorham Little League President Josh Brenner first proposed getting lights for the Little Falls field.
“This usage of the federal ARPA funds has been discussed since the money was allocated to the town in 2020,” Norton said.
The Town Council Tuesday also unanimously approved investing $250,000 in ARPA funding at Robie Park.
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