Projected costs for a synthetic turf and track at Freeport High School have escalated since the figure of $3.2 million was first suggested, but the Tri-Town Track & Field Project, the organizational force behind the project, likely has another major donor in the wings, project member John Paterson told Regional School Unit 5 directors at a meeting Aug. 24.

The RSU 5 board, meanwhile, is working with the Tri-Town Track & Field Project on the wording, and cost, of a bond that must be approved by residents of Durham, Freeport and Pownal for the track and field to become a reality. Given that the estimated cost is now $4.3 million and the major donor is yet to come forward, the school board decided last Wednesday night to go to referendum in January, rather than on Nov. 8, a change that is fine with both parties.

“The Tri-Town Track & Field Project prefers more time,” Paterson said as the group left the school board meeting at Freeport Middle School.

John Simoneau, chairman of the Freeport High School Building Advisory Committee, which is overseeing the $14.6 million renovation of the school, also is working with the Tri-Town Track & Field Project. The group got a big shot in the arm in January, when Nike announced a pledge of $1 million toward the track, to be named for Olympic women’s marathan champion Joan Benoit Samuelson, who lives in Freeport. The track would allow Freeport to host meets for the first time, and a turf field would provide the Falcons with a far superior surface.

Simoneau told the school board that the construction cost of the field and surrounding track alone would be $3.7 million. Track equipment, legal fees, contingencies, permitting costs, soil testing and the price of a clerk of the works all drive the price up, he said. The $4.3 million does not include the $600,000 that was earmarked for the renovation of the grass field at the school, and could be used for the synthetic track and field should voters approve the bond.

“They’re really big numbers,” Simoneau said. “They needed to come up with $600,000 for fill at the site due to soil, ledge and drainage issues.”

Tri-Town Track & Field Project member Fred Palmer told the board the group has raised $1,950,000 in pledges and cash, and, having spent some, has $1,925,000 on hand. Paterson mentioned a “high probability” of securing a major gift of hundreds of thousands, then Palmer said the group needs more time to know what a bond question would amount to. Fundraising alone won’t pay the entire tab.

“It’s safe to assume a shortfall,” Palmer said.

Simoneau mentioned that the cost of lights has not been added into the mix – that might be the task of booster clubs.

“This number is so hot off the press,” Simoneau said. “Twice a day I’m updating this. We’re still trying to grind out the cost. We can try to bare-bones it a little bit more. The trick is, what is the right number? Give us some feedback.”

Board Chairwoman Michelle Ritcheson said that, for one thing, the cost of track equipment could be subtracted, and added instead onto next year’s capital budget proposal.

“There’s no sense in bonding that stuff for 10 years,” Ritcheson said.

Ritcheson, of Durham, praised the Tri-Town Track & Field Project for its fundraising, and director Valy Steverlynck of Freeport agreed.

“They’re hoping for hundreds of thousands,” Steverlynck said. “That would be great. It may bring (the cost of the bond to around $1.9 million.”

Fred Palmer, left, and John Paterson, members of the Tri-Town Track & Field Project, speak to the Regional School Unit 5 Board of Directors last Wednesday night at Freeport Middle School.

Valy Steverlynck, a Regional School Unit 5 director from Freeport, speaks with Fred Palmer, a member of the Tri-Town Track & Field Project, prior to last Wednesday’s school board meeting at Freeport Middle School.