By Ashley St. Michel
Staff Writer
    Kennebunk Elementary School’s athletic fields are getting a face lift.
    The Kennebunk/Kennebunkport Youth Field Association (KKYFA), a newly formed non-profit organization, was recognized as the primary group to develop and fundraise for the athletic fields project at the elementary school at the Oct. 23 Kennebunk Board of Selectmen meeting. The organization also asked the selectmen to turn over the remaining funds allocated for the project.
    “The various athletic groups which include Little League, soccer and lacrosse have all agreed to move ahead with this project,” John Bear, secretary for the KKYFA, said. “The project has been cleared by the Site Plan Review Board, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Kennebunk Sewer District.”
    The concept of an athletic field complex emerged when the new Kennebunk Elementary School was in the designing and building process. Town Manager Barry Tibbetts said the town asked a former Muskie School student to investigate the area as a possibility for future athletic fields. Tibbetts said the process involved “making a deal” with a neighboring land owners’ property that intersected the area proposed to be developed. The project itself calls for two fields for baseball and softball teams and two turf fields for the soccer and lacrosse teams to share.
    In 2004, the town voted in favor of referendum Question 12, which allocated $50,000 to the future development of the fields. On April 4, 2005 the town entered an agreement with Maine School Administrative District (MSAD) 71 to lease the field at the elementary school for athletic field development. The town then subleased the fields to Kennebunk/Kennebunkport Little League, Kennebunk Soccer Club and Kennebunk Lacrosse Club.
    “For the past 18 months, there have been volunteers from the three athletic organizations meeting, discussing and taking a look at the project and how to move it forward,” Bear said. “Out of that came the decision that it really needed to be a formalized, developed 501(c)(3) corporation to move forward with the fundraising, as well as developing the fields.”
    Bear said the organization received their final confirmation as a registered 501(c)(3) organization from the Internal Revenue Service Oct. 23.
    He said the development of the fields will be completed in two phases.
    “The initial phase will be the development of the first soccer and lacrosse field as well as the baseball field once we hit our primary threshold to do that so we can move forward and make sure there’s enough money to be able to support that development,” Bear said. “Once we hit 75 percent of our goal we are going to move forward with phase two of it, which is the completion of the second soccer and lacrosse field as well as the second baseball field.”
    DeLuca-Hoffman Associates, a civil engineering firm out of South Portland, was chosen to complete the drawing and surveying of the land around the fields to begin the development process. Bear said CMA Engineers Inc., a consulting firm specializing in civil, environmental and geotechnical engineering out of Kennebunk, will be working alongside Bouchard Excavation in conjunction with KKYFA in the development of the project.
    “That was a process of receiving estimates from four different companies,” Bear said. “Through that process we chose Bouchard and CMA because they came with the best option for us to proceed with.”
    Larry Gassman, president of KKYFA, said development plans for new fields have been a long time coming.
    “Baseball and lacrosse have both seen an increase in players in the town this year,” he said. “With the clubs growing we aren’t going to have the facilities to support the kids. With all the clubs growing it just makes sense that the amount of fields available grow as well.”
    The term of the lease is for 20 years which began July 1, 2005 and will end June 30, 2025. Under the agreement SAD 71 has exclusive use of the playing fields until 3:30 p.m. on days when school is in session unless KKYFA has requested field usage ahead of time. Once the fields are in operation MSAD 71 and the association will meet to create a “master schedule” for the entire upcoming school year. With KKYFA selected as the primary development group they became responsible for maintaining the fields and keeping them clean of trash when the organization is using the fields.
    On Sept. 19, CMA Engineers Inc. submitted a proposal for the creation of signs, display boards and other graphic materials to support the development.
    “We have also been in discussions with a local marketing agency, to help us really begin to market this to the public as well as to begin developing materials to do that,” Bear said. “We also initiated some conversation with local financial institutions to set up accounts to start the fundraising and receiving donations.”
    Bear said the development of the project will take approximately 18 months to complete and the overall cost is estimated to be more than $1 million, which includes the development of the site, the turf expenses and the initial beginnings to maintain the field after its been completed. To date, the organization has spent more than $42,000 for engineering, top soil transportation and excavation services, leaving it with $7,005. Bear estimated that $4,700 would be needed to complete and post the signs designed by CMA.  
    He said one reason for the $1 million-dollar price tag is due to the sports complex that will be built in addition to the fields. The complex will eventually house storage rooms, concessions and educational classrooms for the athletic teams.
    “The fields are going to give events more of a festival atmosphere,” Gassman said. “Once they are in place we want to start hosting tournaments. Plus it will bring in a large amount of money because you’ll have people eating, shopping and staying overnight in the town.”
    Gassman said he has noticed an increased excitement in Kennebunk surrounding the project.
    “We have a lot of local companies working on it,” he said. “There are so many people excited just to be a part of it. And there will be noticeable progression in the project. People will be able to track the development just by driving by.”