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Lowell subcommittee debates higher tournament fees, insurance and bathroom access after private organizers use city fields
Summary
A Lowell City Board of Parks subcommittee reviewed a proposal to standardize tournament fees, require liability insurance and tighten permit rules after out-of-town organizers booked McPherson Field most weekends; the city solicitor said any fee change must be adopted by ordinance and go to a public hearing.
The Lowell City Board of Parks subcommittee on Monday reviewed proposed changes to how the city charges and manages tournament use of municipal fields, including higher fees for synthetic turf, a requirement for liability insurance and clearer rules on bathroom access and subcontracting.
Kiki Roody, a Parks board member, told the subcommittee the board’s proposal would replace the current case-by-case approach. “Right now tournament fees are decided, to be determined by the board of parks on a case to case basis,” Roody said, and presented a draft that would set fixed daily rates instead of the existing $150-per-field rate used by the city.
The proposal compared Lowell’s practice with Worcester’s and recommended new rates: $500 per day for non-synthetic fields and $1,500 per day for synthetic fields. Roody and other speakers said Worcester charges roughly $950 for non-synthetic tournament use and $2,200 per day for synthetic fields, and that Worcester’s application requires a certificate of insurance for tournaments.
The change aims to capture more…
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