The town of South Windsor will make an important decision on Tuesday on whether to move forward with a proposal for a new turf field.
The site of the multi-purpose field is in Nevers Park and it would include a brand new field turf and lights. High school athletes say it is sorely needed as teams currently have limited practice space, often share fields and can’t play any night games.
“There’s just not enough space,” said South Windsor senior Anthony Bellicci. “Each team has to take turns going on the turf field so our football team and all the other teams only have one day a week to practice on the field. I’ve always wanted to play Friday night football under the lights and sadly I wasn’t able to play any Friday night football games as a Bobcat. I just hope the next generation of kids will have that pleasure of playing.”
“Knowing what’s coming after us and knowing what we experienced, I think it’s really important,” added South Windsor junior Maria Galley. “We know how important it is to have that field, like [the fact that] it’s not even for us but we’re still here advocating for it, I think says a lot.”
Get Connecticut local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC Connecticut newsletters.
“We’re better than this, our kids deserve this. It’s more than time to get this field built,” said former South Windsor town council member Cindy Beaulieu. “It was many years ago that this land was purchased by the town and it has been the opinion of town attorneys that this land is available for both passive and active recreation.”
The location of the site is important due to its proximity to the high school, sitting just across the street. Some residents are concerned that the proposed site is not the best place for the project, which will cost about $3.9 million.
Those who are against the proposal say they want to preserve that piece of land, protect wildlife in the park and would prefer to delay the vote.
Local
“Some of the proponents have said we’ll just move the walking trails and they can walk around this,” said South Windsor resident Dawn Holcombe. “Nobody is here to walk around a stadium with bleachers for 1200 people, paid parking for hundreds of cars, loudspeakers and lights. Yes, we may need a field but we do not need it here.”
The vote on the referendum is set for Tuesday, March 16.
