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Outdoor
Athletic Facilities
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OUTDOOR ATHLETIC FACILITY PLANNING:
WORKING WITH NATIONAL STANDARDS
John Murphy
w 877-8016
Imagine this. Your young child has just told you that he wants to play soccer
this year as most of his close friends are playing. You go to the Recreation Center to enroll him in the program and
are told that he cannot play. Due to
the popularity of the sport, the booming numbers of players, and the limited
field space, no further children can be accepted. Imagine how you would feel.
Imagine how your child would feel.
Now, you might consider this an unrealistic scenario but it is possible
in the near future. The Brunswick area
is growing in popularity for raising a family.
This brings with it the demands for the entire infrastructure to support
family life; schools, parks and recreation, public safety, etc. Even today, the Parks and Recreation
Department has a difficult time in keeping up with the demands on field space. The department has done a remarkable job in
juggling its resources. However, this
has been accomplished in part by reducing the frequency of team practice time
allotments. To compensate, some teams have resorted to practicing in coaches'
back yards. When fields are used in
such a frequent manner with little time allowed for maintenance or recovery,
the soil compaction yields a poor playing surface. One only has to look to the Brunswick Town Mall in the area of
the farmers' market to see the type of damage that can occur.
In 1999, the Open Space and Recreation
Task Force was formed to explore ways that the character of the Town can be
preserved while addressing both open space and recreation needs. A series of nine informative lectures was
held this past spring to help educate both the task force and the public on the
issues that are critical components of a meaningful recreation and open space
plan.
The guest
speaker for the Outdoor Active Recreation Facilities topic was Dana Anderson,
the Director of Parks & Recreation for the City of South Portland. He shared his community's experience and
approach to determining its future recreational needs. After a thorough needs
assessment and an identification of current space deficiencies by the residents
of South Portland, voters there approved a $6.7 million dollar bond issue to
acquire and develop additional outdoor and indoor recreational facilities. He
shared that $1,000,000 of the funds was used to acquire 150 acres of open
space, $1,500,000 was used to develop several multipurpose fields, four lighted
softball fields, two baseball fields and restoration of the city's tennis
courts and running track, and approximately $4,200,000 was earmarked for
constructing a 36,000 square foot addition to the existing Community Center.
Mr. Anderson spoke of the use of national
recreation and park standards for determining how many and what type of
recreation facilities a community should have vs. what the community indicates
it needs for facilities. He stressed
that, in the past, the standards that are based on population were used to
determine what facilities were built.
For example, for a population of 20,000, the standards might require
five tennis courts. However, local
interests might indicate a need of triple that amount to meet the needs of the
community. Brunswick has experienced
this trend with soccer, and the growing sport of lacrosse. The national standards should be consulted
to establish a baseline, but the emphasis should be on community needs. It is the responsibility of the citizens to
make their requests known to the decision-makers so the most appropriate
choices can be made.
Anderson also indicated that there
has been a surge in participation numbers, which is directly attributable to
the impact that Title IX federal legislation has had on communities nationwide.
With mandated equity for both girls and boys in sports, there has been an
explosion of girls in athletics.
Brunswick certainly has experienced this trend with significant growth
of girls' participation in sports and recreation programs at all levels. This
growth has placed an increased demand on the use of all outdoor Town-owned
recreation facilities. With the
increasing demands for access to a limited number of outdoor recreation
facilities, there are bound to be some unhappy participants when field time
allotments are made.
If and when Brunswick decides to
meet these increased needs and commits to construct more playing fields, the
next decision must be made as to what type of facility to build. Should the town locate fields equally in
neighborhoods throughout the town, such as Shulman Field in the Meadowbrook
area or should it seek to pursue a regional approach where several facilities
are constructed in one location with the infrastructure to support it, such as
snack bar, restrooms, parking, lighting, and maintenance buildings. The Edwards Field facilities are a good
example of the regional approach. Each
approach has advantages and disadvantages that must be addressed in a public
forum.
A final consideration should be made
for those who seek to participate in unorganized activities. All recreation is not organized and
delivered in the form of a formal program.
As such, space also needs to be set aside so informal groups can utilize
open recreation areas for their respective interests, such as kite or model
plane flying, or just tossing a ball with a family member or friend.
As Brunswick continues to grow,
these issues will become more pressing.
The town will be smart to invest in the creation of new facilities now,
to ensure adequate recreation opportunities for all user groups in our
community. As a member of the Open
Space and Recreation Task Force, as well as the Recreation Commission, I
sincerely request that you contact any member of the Task Force, Rec.
Commission or Town Council and be heard on this issue.
