Photo Credit: E.Q. Rosie, Gale Associates - Weymouth MA
Expanding or renovating an athletic complex is never easy. The decision to proceed is often determined by others—or from various sources—and your task may be to help make the project come together. Many of the decisions will involve a variety of stakeholders, some of whom will be inconvenienced by the work, some who will be very involved and passionate, and others who will be less involved than you would like them to be. Advocating for support and funding for a large project can seem a daunting task, which is often complicated by many factors, such as assembling a team, planning and shifting events to other sites, and engineering and permitting. These are all tasks that a typical parks and recreation manager may only have to oversee a few times in a career.
This article outlines a general guide to the steps and costs necessary to construct a new municipal-level, multipurpose field. Since a multipurpose field tends to attract large crowds, the project typically includes bleachers, a press box, athletic lighting, restrooms, concessions, storage, and adequate parking. How well these elements come together in the final design will have a major impact on the success of the facility. These athletic venues are often some of the most visible facilities in a city or town, and it’s important to get it right.
Ideally, a multipurpose field is sized so that as many sports as possible can be played on it. In the United States, this means the length of the field is dictated by American football (360 feet plus safety run-outs) and the width by soccer and girls’ lacrosse (high school level: 210 feet plus safety run-outs.) This size allows regulation football, boys’ and girls’ soccer and lacrosse, and field hockey.