Published in the January 24, 2019 edition.
By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD — The hopes of one day making Blatz Field into a regulation high school softball field took a step forward at last night’s School Committee meeting, but it may not have been in the direction that everyone envisioned.
Bob Burnett of White Avenue and David Story of Stark Avenue returned to continue the discussion that that they began a month ago around what they had in mind for Blatz Field. Burnett, an architect, and Story, a construction manager, brought their professional experience to bear on a proposal to upgrade the field that they first outlined at the School Committee’s Dec. 11 meeting.
The Wakefield Memorial High School varsity girls’ softball team plays its home games at Veterans Field because there currently isn’t a field for them on the WMHS campus. Veterans Field is designed for men’s slow-pitch softball, not the high school fast-pitch game.
Blatz Field is in an area behind and between the high school and the Woodville School. It is sometimes used by Little League teams. Burnett called it “a nice area that would make a good ball field. It’s just run down.”
Using a slide presentation, Burnett reviewed the current conditions and discussed what would be proposed to bring Blatz up to regulation level.
Burnett said that under the proposed plan, the new field would stay within the limits of the current field but would be shifted about 25 feet up the third base line. He showed photos of a field in Melrose as an example of what could be done. The plan would include dugouts and bullpens, a new backstop and an outfield fence 200 feet from home plate.
A written statement provided by the proponents outlined a possible timeline.
“Unfortunately, with the timeline required for approvals (May), the softball field construction cannot be completed in time for the varsity team to play their 2019 season there, but we can get it in place for the entirety of the 2020 season. That will affect a lot of high school softball players. Some will finish their high school careers on a great field while others will play their entire high school careers there.”
The proponents also provided a estimated budget of $196,000 for the work.
Story stressed that Veterans Field, where the high school team now plays its games and holds its practices, is not designed as a girls’ softball field. He noted that since the girls don’t have an adequate field at the high school, they often have to drive themselves and each other to games at Vets.
School Committee Chairman Thomas Markham agreed that equity for the girls’ sports teams was long overdue.
School Committee member Christopher Callanan confessed that he was somewhat puzzled that the School Committee was approached at this point, noting that the DPW maintains all the school fields. He suggested that more clarity was needed in that regard.
“I don’t know if the School Committee even has the authority to make this happen,” he said.
There was discussion of the town process that a project like this would have to follow. It was noted that it would likely end up as an article at Town Meeting. But before that, a number of other steps would be involved including discussions with the Finance Committee and possibly the Capital Planning Committee and the Town Council.
School Superintendent Douglas Lyons said that he had been speaking with the DPW’s Parks Supervisor Dennis Fazio, who felt that Blatz Field could be brought up to a playable condition as soon as the coming spring softball season.
Markham agreed with such a two-tiered approach of getting Blatz into playable condition for the spring 2019 season while working on next steps for a fuller, more permanent upgrade. He asked Lyons to come back at the next School Committee meeting with some more specifics on the next steps.
But several WMHS varsity softball players in attendance were skeptical of the idea of making Blatz Field “playable” for the upcoming season. One player said that she would rather continue to play at Veterans Field than on a partially redone Blatz.
“It should be done once and right,” she said.
Another player agreed and said that she would rather see the effort go toward a full upgrade of Blatz, even if it means it wouldn’t be ready until 2020. She added that even if she never got to play on a new field at Wakefield High School, she would love to see it for the players who come after her.
Some concern was expressed that the possibility of a new high school building project could impact plans to upgrade Blatz Field. School Committee members said that while the prospect of new high school construction had to be taken into account, it should not stand in the way of doing something to upgrade Blatz.
Lyons is expected to look further into the possibilities and report back at the School Committee’s Feb. 12 meeting. The School Committee is expected to endorse the project at that time so that the proponents can take it to the next step.
