Fields

Explanation: When the current field layout was largely constructed in the 1960s, the high school only had boys' soccer, field hockey, track, and baseball. Since then, we have added girls' soccer, boys' and girls' lacrosse, softball, football, ultimate frisbee, and unified bocce. The towns have also seen the addition of Patriot Soccer, Patriot Football, and Patriot Lacrosse, which all use the facilities.

Even since the school board first started investigating field expansion in 2015, we have added the lacrosse teams (including at the middle school), ultimate frisbee, and bocce. 

As for the snack shack and bathrooms — no one looks forward to using the porta-a-potties and there is no question this limits the enjoyment our community can get from our school sports. Further, athletes have to use them or travel all the way into the building, which can be a long way from the outer fields. 

When we do a field wear analysis, you can see that most of the current fields are used much more than they can be expected to sustain without wearing out and needing significant repair on a regular basis. When we have to do this, we have to rest fields entirely, which only exacerbates the problem. 

1. The major performance field, where the football, soccer, and lacrosse teams play their varsity games, would be moved closer to the school, with the stands moved to the other side of the field, so they do not face the setting sun. Currently, the field overlaps the baseball field, cramps the practice field to the north of it, and the stands face the sun, making the viewing experience less than ideal. In moving the stands, we will likely move the snack shack as well and sit the bathrooms close by, but the final location of snack shack and bathrooms is still to be determined, based on the septic upgrade and the conditions found when digging under the fields. 

2. The softball field will be reoriented to face north/northeast. It currently faces southeast and the sun can be problematic. 

3. The baseball field will be relocated onto the new land that was purchased with public money in 2014, when the school board first intended to expand the field footprint. Currently, the field not only faces west, with the setting sun in the batter/catcher's eyes, but is also located on top of the performance field and next to the track, so that lacrosse can't play when baseball is playing, and foul balls often fly onto the track and into field hockey games. 

4. These two new multi-purpose practice fields would allow for teams of all kinds to hold practices when the performance fields are in use. The top space is full-sized and appropriate for JV games or so multiple varsity sports could play at once (football and soccer, etc.).

5. The track is relatively new, as part of a 2018 capital spend, but the infield needs to be raised, the drainage improved (expanding the amount of usable field space), and the ends of the tracks filled in to create new jumping areas. 

6. The middle school's "bowl" fields will be renovated and reseeded. An old, unused softball field will be removed and full-sized fields for middle school competition created. Currently, the lack of proper irrigation on these fields has left them in poor shape. 

7. To access the new baseball/softball/soccer fields, we'll create new road access and 69 new parking spots. This area will likely have bathroom and concession facilities, and may also provide access to a bike "pump track" that volunteers from the town would like to create as part of Libby Hill complex. 

8. The middle school baseball/soccer/lacrosse field will remain unchanged, as we invested roughly $200k in renovating that space in 2019. 

9. As part of the larger project, the parking at the high school will be addressed, with the addition of 116 new parking spaces. 

10. The project will tie into a separate project for which the Town of Gray won a federal grant, which will provide a second emergency exit to the high school campus, along with a lighted crosswalk to allow students an easier way to cross the road into the housing developments across Route 26.