Resident urges restoration of historic Fiser School War Memorial sports complex

A Middletown resident urged the school board to preserve and restore the original Fiser School War Memorial sports complex, saying decades of development have reduced the memorial fields to mostly blacktop and a single football field.

During public comment, Jack Still identified himself as a Middletown resident and read from a historical article in the Preston Journal that recounted the War Memorial Group's efforts to create baseball fields, tennis courts and other facilities as a living memorial to town veterans. Still told the board the article described concerns that construction had 'obliterated' the baseball field to make room for a junior high school and that the community has lost recreational amenities the memorial once provided.

"War Memorial Group reactivated over the concerns of land encroachment...the baseball field was one of the finest...and is being obliterated to make room for the junior high school," Still read into the record, according to the transcript. He asked the board to be respectful toward the veterans who contributed to the original project and suggested restoring basketball courts and other recreational features.

Board members acknowledged the comment and thanked Still for providing historical materials; one member said they would try to locate the original copy mentioned and follow up. The transcript shows the comment was made during the public-comment portion of the meeting and no formal board motion or action on the memorial was taken at that time.

The exchange provides historical context the board may choose to review further; any formal preservation or restoration would require separate agenda placement and likely funding decisions.