While most people agree the $12.3 million proposal to revamp South Portland High School’s athletic complex is needed, some residents are concerned about the installation of turf fields. Contributed / South Portland School Department

South Portland voters will weigh in on three school referenda this November: $1 million for maintenance and upgrades across the district; $3 million for safety and security improvements at the city’s elementary schools; and $12.3 million for a new athletic complex at the high school, including a controversial turf field.

If all pass on Nov. 5, the city estimates the owner of a home valued at $500,000 would see their taxes increase by $123 per year.

Safety upgrades and facility repairs

The $3 million in safety and security upgrades would add security cameras and more secure entrances at the city’s elementary schools.

“We owe our students the safest possible elementary schools that we can provide,” said Superintendent Tim Matheney. “That means we need to redo the entrance areas and add surveillance cameras to those schools, which is part of every elementary school that is being constructed right now and many, many elementary schools in the country are being retrofitted with more secure entrances.”

Bethany Connolly, principal of Skillin Elementary, said staff have been well trained in safety response and protocol, but that only goes so far and physical upgrades are needed.

“We have a microphone (so) that we can speak to people at the door but, once we let people in, they’re in the building,” said Connolly. “There’s no secure vestibule.”

The $1 million in facility upgrades would repair the roofs of three elementary schools, mitigate persistent water damage at Kaler Elementary and address the deteriorating high school gym entrance.

While the roof at Skillin has received attention in the past, it still leaks “pretty consistently,” Connolly said.

“We’ve had things patched and fixed both outside and inside but, when it rains or there’s a storm, we definitely have areas of the building that leak,” she said.

Athletic complex overhaul

The proposed $12.3 million revamp of the high school’s athletic complex would install a turf field to replace the current grass field, upgrade the track to include eight lanes at regulation size, create permanent bathrooms to replace portable toilets and build a new concession stand, among other improvements.

School staff and coaches say the project is of great need.

The town’s soccer teams can barely pass the ball on the current grass field, said Tyler Pelletier, girls’ soccer coach, as the ball bounces rather than rolls.

“The field itself is just horrendous,” he said. “By October, with the soccer teams and football teams using it, it just becomes a disaster.”

The field is becoming infamous for its poor quality, said Aaron Filieo, football coach.

“We had an official do a middle school game (recently). He pulled me aside and said, unprompted, that this was the worst field he’s been on,” Filieo said. “We’ve canceled two sub-varsity games this year because the fields were unplayable.”

Last spring, the boys’ lacrosse team was unable to play their opening home game in South Portland.

“Our boys’ lacrosse home opener was against Cape Elizabeth and, because of the weather we had leading into that, our field just wouldn’t have been safe to play on,” said Todd Livingston, athletics director. “We actually played our opening home game at Cape Elizabeth.”

The lack of bathrooms means athletes, spectators and those in attendance during graduation need to use portable toilets, which coaches and school staff called “embarrassing.” Contributed / South Portland School Department

With no bathroom, athletes and spectators at games have to use portable toilets and the same goes for students and their families during graduation, which takes place on the field. Coaches and school staff interviewed by the Sentry described it as “gross” and “embarrassing.”

“On the biggest day of the school year, graduation day, we ask our guests – including grandmothers and grandfathers – to use the porta potties,” said Matheney. “That’s not acceptable.”

The high school track is also in rough shape.

“When it rains, you can feel the water squishing below the track surface,” said Dave Kahill, boys’ track coach. “There are places on the track where if you lay the athletic tape down for drills and practice and then you try to pick up the tape, it takes off pieces of the track surface.”

The track also only has seven lanes compared to the standard eight, Kahill said, and some of the lanes are narrower than others.

Coaches believe the installation of a turf field will help alleviate the issues spurred by the old grass field, originally installed sometime in the 1960s. Not only will soccer balls roll, turf is more weather-resistant and can accommodate much more wear and tear.

“Right now, it’s a game field only,” Livingston said. “(A turf field) will just increase the amount of usage.”

Turf concerns

However, some residents have vocally opposed the project because of one factor: the turf fields.

“We all agree that the fields are in horrible shape,” said resident Beth Myers. “The whole stadium complex needs and overhaul. We’ve taken tours. We’ve seen it. It’s bad.”

But there are too many unknowns about turf fields, these residents argue, and what is known concerns them.

“There is plenty of evidence out there from scientists all over the world and locally that artificial turf fields have adverse effects on the environment,” said Karen Talentino, vice president of the South Portland Land Trust and a retired professor of biology and environmental science. “Essentially, you’re putting down a thick plastic carpet with other hundreds of synthetic chemicals.”

The exposure to those chemicals can be harmful, they say.

“It’s not just the athletes,” said Priscilla Dreyman. “It’s the bands that are out there practicing and competing, other teams that come in, the families in the bleachers, the cheerleaders, the maintenance workers and people who just want to for a walk or run their dog around on the field.”

Artificial turf gets much hotter than natural grass, posing a risk to athletes, they say.

“Natural grass rarely gets over 100 degrees, where artificial turfs have been measured at much higher,” said Jim Melloh.

Melloh also said studies have shown that athletes playing on artificial turf are more susceptible to heat stroke.

However, there are “so many unknowns” around artificial turf and some communities in the country and state have contemplated or implemented bans, the residents said.

“With something that has so many unknowns, we feel that there are environmental and health and safety risks here,” said Meyers.

The proposal calls for the use of BrockFILL, consisting of sand and small wood pellets and fewer plastics than other forms of artificial turf. The turf company, Brock, claims it remains cooler than other types of turf. They also tout that it is safer than crumb rubber, a product found in many turf fields that has recently been banned in Europe.