In response to feedback received from the community, including a vocal group known as Fields For Kids, the Town Recreation Commission voted to extend athletic use of Hommocks school fields though the school year, a policy that previously was to end at Thanksgiving in order to protect the fields from significant impairment.
The Town of Mamaroneck Board supported this recommendation.
Professional landscape architects have warned against year-round access by students to the Carpino and Steffens Recreational Fields at Hommocks Middle School because they determined the fields will sustain significant damage with prolonged use, according to Town Board Member Jeffrey King.
James Druker, Chairman of the Town Recreation Commission, said, “The Recreation Commission took into account the risk that the fields would be harmed by allowing year-round play, but determined that the risk was outweighed by the reality of the shortage of fields in the community combined with the increased demand by the large youth population.”
Some have suggested the agreement to extend use of the fields was a consolation prize after the Town Council pulled $800K in proposed field improvement money out of the current budget late last year. King disagrees, saying, “the Town is currently reviewing various solutions for improving the fields, and quite possibly the $800K would have been counter productive to the final solution.”
The Town is consulting with at least one company to use grass mixed with other materials to enable year round use.
Jaine Elkind Eney, Mamaroneck Town Supervisor said, “We are excited to launch this initiative for our students.”
Hommocks Fields are the Town’s only field facility for athletics. There are also fields at Harbor Island Park, Lorenzen Park, and Alma Field in the Town’s two Villages.
Fields for Kids is raising funds for a new school-owned turf field behind the Mamaroneck Town Center to be used for soccer, lacrosse, field hockey, and football, at a cost of $1,200,000.
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Polly Kreisman founded and began publishing theLoop in 2007. She is a 15-time Emmy Award winning former television reporter and actress and lives in Larchmont.
Do we really have an objectively insufficient amount of field space available or is it just loud voices pushing their interests? What I want to know is how does the school district compare to other districts in westchester on a scale of students to total field space available. Maybe they should convert some buildings back to farmland and fields the way it used to be. (Edited for clarity)
An election year stunt that will be detrimental to the fields in the future. Supervisor Eney is trying to take an issue away from her opponents instead of doing the right thing and allowing the fields to rest.
How will the fields be used? Rec sports leagues? What sport is played on outdoor fields from mid November through March?