The construction plan that Sprinturf had presented would have forced all but two home football games to be moved off campus. If there were unforeseen construction or weather delays, the whole season could have gone by without a home game. McCarthy said that such a scenario was unacceptable.
He also said that Farrell has pledged to hold a special Board of Selectmen meeting should the contract be resolved anytime soon.
By this time though, McCarthy said it is likely that the Staples football field will not be constructed on until the summer of 2006. Should the contract be resolved, he said the first field to have turf installed on it will now be a soccer field at Wakeman Park.
The Field of Dreams project was estimated to cost $2.85 million, but the company agreed to reduce the cost to $1.55 million in exchange for a branding agreement. The Field of Dreams Committee had pledged to raise the money privately with the town picking up borrowing costs.
The town’s funding bodies had approved advancing construction funds while the private money was being raised. However, this was the third time that the contract had been removed from the Board of Selectmen’s agenda due to contractual issues.
“It’s important that the town move forward with a contract that is reasonable and financially acceptable,” McCarthy said.
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Jonathan Thrope contributed reporting for this article.
