Dover Parks and Recreation stakes its new turf

Dover - For a grass field such as Caryl Park in Dover, the national average for field use is approximately 160 hours per year. At this park, though, that number is closer to 600 per year, Nancy Simm of the Dover Park & Recreation Department said.

It is for this reason that Simm said that the town is in desperate need of a new turf field, capable of sustaining such high levels of usage.

At the Dover Selectmen’s meeting Thursday, she outlined the plans for the new field that will be called the Caryl Park and Recreation Complex, and spoke of the need of such a transition.

“Our fields are vastly overused and are becoming unsafe,” she said.

The field was originally proposed to be paid for with public money, but was then switched to private funding after concerns arose over Dover tax dollars paying for a field that would be used by both Dover and Sherborn. Simm said that the change was made so as to limit conflict between the two towns.

“The last thing we want is divisive action that would break our community apart,” she said. “And it allows us to solicit donations from Sherborn residents now.”

The project is estimated to cost $3.5 million, none of which has been raised yet. Simm said she is confident the money can be raised, though, although it might take a while to fundraise.

“You don’t make the Titanic in a week,” she said.

James P. Dawley Jr., the clerk for the Dover Board of Selectmen, said that he wanted to make sure the process was staying an open one, despite being developed privately.

“We want to be very clear in asking you to listen to every townsman,” he said at the meeting.

Rich Oasis, who also is a member of the Dover Parks & Recreation Department, said the CPARC developers would do everything possible to stay in the public eye, and listen to criticism.

“It is essential to us that everyone in town has a voice and has it heard,” he said.
Evan Koslof
7/5/11


Originally Posted: http://www.wickedlocal.com/dover/features/x1957439427/Dover-Parks-and-Recreation-stakes-its-new-turf#axzz1S38BdhOB