New Synthetic Field For High School

The EP school committee gave formal approval to a semi-privatization plan with the private Bayside Football Club which will build an artificial turf field behind the high school complex. The area now contains a much used and worn all purpose field used by football, soccer and other school athletic and city groups from the city. The agreement was crafted after long deliberations on the topic. "We want to make sure that the agreement is beneficial to our students first and also to the private groups who may use the area," said board Chairman Charles Tsonos before the meeting in April.

The agreement calls for a 25 year lease which allows school teams and Bayside to share the complex. According to Tsonos, the Bayside group was concerned that they may lose their investment should the city ever decide to build a new high school on the site of the athletic fields. The agreement alleviates that concern with legal language as well as the fact that there is no talk of building a new high school in the foreseeable future.

The agreement by the school committee was sent to the city council for their ratification, although Ward 2 member Joel Monteiro did not see the need for this action. "The School Committee, in an historic and unanimous vote, entered into a partnership with Bayside Football Club that will beautify our city and provide an unprecedented opportunity to our student athletes for years to come…at no cost to the taxpayer," blogged Ward 3 committee member Nate Cahoon. "This will be a state-of-the-art turf field to be shared between the two parties. Beginning in the 2015-16 school year, and for the next two decades, our Townie soccer and lacrosse players will have access to the type of field enjoyed by students at LaSalle Academy and Brown University. And the best part is that Bayside will bear the cost of developing and maintaining the field," added Cahoon who took a major part in supporting this arrangement.

"Our City has taken its lumps in recent years: austere budgets, a construction moratorium, bad press, etc. Yet our student athletes are winning. They are studying hard, practicing hard, and bringing championships back to EP. We owe it to them to find uncommon solutions to uncommon problems. And as stewards of the taxpayer, we need to do so in a way that doesn’t break the bank," said an excited Cahoon. The proposal received unanimous committee support.