Parcel On Old Farm Hill

Eyed For Ball Fields

By Steve Bigham

Desperate for more field space, the Babe Ruth Association of Newtown is seeking to lease a 12-acre piece of town-owned land to develop three baseball diamonds.

The land, currently under the control of the Parks & Recreation Commission, is located along Old Farm Hill Road. The town acquired the land as open space in 1986 as part of a development agreement. It was handed over to Parks & Recreation in 1990.

Babe Ruth Baseball, along with the town’s girls’ softball program, would pay to lease the land, develop it with its own money and maintain the fields once constructed. Only 7 of the 12 acres are suitable for ball fields.

Any lease agreement must first be approved by the Legislative Council and a town meeting.

First Selectman Herb Rosenthal appears to be in favor of the plan. He recognizes the town’s need for more ball fields and has spearheaded a drive to find available space around town. The town is in the process of planning what it wants to do with the newly acquired property along Queen Street and Elm Drive.

Mr Rosenthal recently gave his support for town purchase of Fairfield Hills. However, he has also indicated that Fairfield Hills should be used for future economic development. Mr Rosenthal has stated that spending $10 million to $15 million for ball fields may not be the right move.

Selectman Bill Brimmer wondered why the Parks & Recreation has not developed the Old Farm Hill Road property, especially in light of the field shortage. He suggested Parks & Recreation Director Barbara Kasbarian and Babe Ruth representatives attend the selectmen’s next meeting November 15.

Mrs Kasbarian is expected to explain that her department is trying not to scatter fields all around town due to the difficulty in maintaining them. What she and others would really like to see is a 40-acre site to put all fields in one place.

Mrs Kasbarian said she plans to hold an informational meeting with residents of the Old Farm Hill Road area. The proposed baseball field site sits across the street from and abuts several homes. There would be no lights installed at the facility.

Recently, local sports groups have submitted wish lists for their individual field needs. The soccer association says it needs 10 more fields, while Babe Ruth says it needs seven additional by the year 2019 — 19 in total. These groups all support the purchase of Fairfield Hills.

Town officials say it may be difficult to reach those numbers, but Mrs Kasbarian says the town needs at least two fields solely for lacrosse, two full-size fields solely for soccer and two more baseball fields with 90-foot baseball paths.

Still it may not be enough, according to Mr Rosenthal.

“Other towns say that no matter how many fields they build, there never seems to be enough,” he said.

In 1998, Newtown’s school enrollment was 4,513. The projected enrollment for 2010 is 6,348.