By J.W. Oliver
A rendering by landscape architect Pat Carroll shows the location of a new turf field on the Lincoln Academy campus in Newcastle. An anonymous $750,000 gift will pay for the field’s construction. (Image courtesy Lincoln Academy) |
An anonymous $750,000 gift to Lincoln Academy will pay for the construction of a turf field and jump-start efforts to build new baseball and softball fields and a new track.
The school will build the turf field on the footprint of the current baseball and soccer field, according to Lincoln Academy Associate Head of School for Advancement Matthew Goetting. The new field will host field hockey, lacrosse, and soccer.
The field will also benefit physical education classes, Goetting said. The school hopes to have the field ready for use by the fall.
Lincoln Academy will become only the second school in the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference with a turf field, according to Athletic Director K.J. Anastasio. Morse High School in Bath has the other. Only 15 high schools across Maine have turf fields.
The site of Lincoln Academy’s field will make it unique.
“I don’t think there’ll be a more picturesque field in the state because of its location,” Anastasio said. “It’s going to be in the heart of campus.”
The ground slopes up toward the main campus on two sides of the site and creates a natural bowl and a “stadium atmosphere” that affords spectators a better view, Anastasio said.
Anastasio and Goetting hope to see the new field host conference championships and other major events. Both stressed the school’s plans to make the field available to the public.
“We truly have expectations of making this a community field,” Anastasio said. “We’ve definitely borrowed and had many favors granted by local schools, and we hope we can repay those favors. We want to be able to have other schools utilize our field.”
For example, the field could host Busline League championships, and elementary schools might use the turf field when conditions prohibit play on grass fields, Anastasio said.
Anastasio described his reaction to the gift as “true amazement. I was so excited for the school and the kids,” he said. “To be able to provide a state-of-the-art facility, compared to what we currently have, is going to be such a benefit to us and the community.”
Regarding the decision to prioritize the turf field and move baseball, Anastasio said, “This location for baseball isn’t ideal. Although picturesque, although where it’s always been, we’ve had our dimensions diminish slightly because of the new building phase.”
The turf field will serve nine teams – junior varsity and varsity field hockey, varsity boys lacrosse, JV and varsity girls lacrosse, and JV and varsity boys and girls soccer.
The current field hockey and girls lacrosse field falls short of regulation size, while boys lacrosse plays at Great Salt Bay Community School in Damariscotta. The new field will have a 110-by-65-yard playing surface, which meets regulations for all three sports.
The new field will “solve a lot of our facility issues with athletics with one field,” Anastasio said.
This spring, Lincoln Academy baseball will play home games in Waldoboro for the second consecutive season. The team could have a new home soon, however, according to Goetting.
“The goal is to leverage (the turf field) project to try and move forward with subsequent phases of the fields campaign,” Goetting said.
The construction of new tennis courts in 2008 started “the movement to upgrade our athletic fields and surfaces,” Goetting said. The school developed a $3.5 million master plan for athletic fields some years ago.
The turf field will be the first phase. The next phase would consist of new baseball and softball fields, while the final phase would consist of a new, regulation-size track.
A rendering by landscape architect Pat Carroll shows the future locations of new baseball and softball fields and a new track on the west side of Academy Hill Road in Newcastle. The baseball and softball fields and the track represent the next two phases of Lincoln Academy’s effort to upgrade its athletics facilities. (Image courtesy Lincoln Academy) |
The baseball and softball fields and the track would be on the opposite side of Academy Hill Road from the main campus, to the north of the existing field hockey and lacrosse field. The new track would occupy the footprint of that field.
If the school can raise the funds, the baseball and softball fields could be ready by spring 2016, Goetting said. The school estimates the cost of the fields at approximately $700,000-$750,000. The track would cost another $1 million to $1.2 million.
Lincoln Academy cannot host track and field meets because the 1/6-mile, 49-year-old track falls short of regulations for interscholastic competition. The old track would remain a practice field.
A new track could also accommodate a football field if Lincoln Academy adds the sport in the future. A regulation-size track “gives us that flexibility in the long run,” Goetting said.
The final phase would also include improvements to the complex, including a dropoff and parking area, bleachers, concession stands, and restrooms.
As a private school, Lincoln Academy does not receive capital improvement funds from the state. Area towns pay a state-established tuition rate for their students to attend Lincoln Academy, but the tuition goes toward operations costs only.
Instead, Lincoln Academy relies on philanthropy to fund projects like the Alumni Dining Commons and Courtyard, the Ryder Science Wing, and the Cable-Burns Applied Technology and Engineering Center.
The school will continue to seek community support to make the next phases of the project a reality.
“What we’re really going to try and do is have as many conversations with folks – the community, parents, alumni, and others – who have an interest in seeing these fields happen,” Goetting said. The school “will build the next phases as soon as we have the support.”
The completion of the project – particularly the new softball field – could also clear the way for other wish-list projects, such as a new library or performing arts center, Goetting said.
The school will embark on the new project as it completes two other major projects: the the dormitory and the technology center.
Students will likely move into the dormitory by the end of winter vacation. The technology center “should be open for business soon after that,” Goetting said.
The school will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony for both buildings April 17, and will offer tours of the buildings after the ceremony.
