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Concord Schools revise Thoreau Field request to $444,960; CPC includes it in preliminary funding plan
Summary
Concord Public Schools presented a revised $444,960 application to the Community Preservation Committee for Thoreau Field improvements. The CPC placed the revised request in its draft allocations and voted to approve the warrant funding totals for the year.
Concord Public Schools submitted a revised application seeking $444,960 from the Community Preservation Committee on Jan. 14 for upgrades at Thoreau Field, including a new multipurpose field primarily for youth soccer, basketball-court resurfacing and erosion control work.
The CPC’s review came during a public meeting where Dr. Hunter, representing the Concord schools, described an itemized schematic and cost breakdown for the site. “The revised total cost of the, perspective project is $444,960,” Dr. Hunter said, and asked the committee to enter that figure into the CPC worksheet for the funding round.
The application covers site remediation, including removing gravel and returning lawn with loam and seed, thickening wood-chip surfacing, stabilizing slopes to address erosion, resurfacing the basketball court, relocating a community garden, restoring a grama pit, and creating a new small soccer field with a potential fitness trail. Dr. Hunter told the committee the new field would be grass and sized for younger players.
Nut graf: The CPC voted later in the meeting to finalize this year’s proposed allocations and unanimously approved the funding amounts as presented; the Thoreau Field application is included in that slate. Committee members asked clarifying questions about surfacing, restroom access for after-school and weekend use, total project cost and how the privately funded playground element fits into the request.
Committee members probed logistics and community use. Paul Boehm, the recreation commission appointee, asked how restroom needs would be handled during non-school hours; Dr. Hunter said porta-potties are the likely option and that youth soccer groups often pay for them. Ed Larner, the housing authority appointee, confirmed the playing surface would be natural grass. Committee members also discussed coordinating the privately funded playground and parking expansion with the publicly funded field work.
Dr. Hunter and committee members provided additional context about overall project costs: the playground element (privately funded) is about $600,000, parking expansion roughly $200,000, and the revised CPC ask is $444,960 — putting the overall campus effort above $1 million, according to the presenters. Dr. Hunter said some playground fundraising had already exceeded $300,000.
The CPC chair asked applicants to place the $444,960 figure into the committee worksheet during the meeting. Later in the meeting the committee moved to approve the year’s budget worksheet, including the revised Thoreau Field request; members voted unanimously among those present to accept the recommended funding allocations.
Ending: The Concord Public Schools team indicated it will coordinate timing with private fundraising and with town scheduling if the CPC and town meeting provide funding. The CPC approved the funding slate for the year; any final appropriation will occur at town meeting under the Community Preservation Act process.
