the future of Sports at Mill Woods Park
The “plan” we are voting on is seriously flawed.
Net Loss of Fields
The current plan is to replace 3 baseball/softball and soccer fields with 1 single artificial turf field which will be shared by field hockey, lacrosse, football, and soccer teams. There is no actual plan for where replacement fields would go or a timeline for when they would be built - nor is there any funding.
This means even fewer fields for sports teams to practice and play games on.
No Plan, No Money Left to Fix All the Other Fields in Town
Everyone can agree that all the fields in Wethersfield are in need of care and maintenance. Not only does this plan not address the other fields, the high cost of this one artificial turf field will consume our budget, leaving even less money available for our existing fields, which the majority of youth sports teams use.
The Mill Woods “Master Plan” is a One-Page Draft
If we proceed with the RFQ (what we’re voting on), it locks in the position of the field, which limits our options in the future.
There has been discussion around having a second field to the south of the field, but that relies on a land swap with the turf farm next door, which is opposed to this. Also under consideration is changing the orientation of the field/moving the proposed parking lot so we could fit another field without a land swap.
We should have a real plan before we commit to building permanent infrastructure.
Wethersfield Residents Will Support a Real Plan
Friends of Mill Woods Park have discussed this with thousands of residents, including over 2,000 voters who signed a petition to have this important issue put to a referendum, so the people of Wethersfield can decide.
The general consensus is that most people want to support youth sports programs, but are opposed to this specific plan. They feel that they don’t know what they are signing up for - bleachers? Lights? A two-lane road through the park? How much will it all cost? Town Council has been extremely unclear. Once we have a real, transparent plan in place, Wethersfield residents will support improving our fields for youth sports.
What are our next steps?
Vote No to this unfinished, shortsighted plan.
Re-allocate the ARPA funds to other important projects that need to be tackled anyway, like fixing the leaking school roofs.
Develop a new plan to upgrade and maintain our fields that benefits all our sports teams, makes sense financially, and include more residents in the planning process next time so that we don’t wind up in this situation again.