It seems there are too many soccer teams and not enough fields for them to play on in Providence. With little vacant land left, it’s hard to imagine where the city could come up with enough land to build the needed three to four more soccer fields that Robert McMahon, superintendent of the Providence Parks Department, says are needed to accommodate the growing number of applicants vying for permits to play on the city’s fields.
“It would be a stretch,” said Charles T. Francis, president and partner of CB Richard Ellis New England’s Rhode Island office, of the feasibility of obtaining new land for soccer fields. “Unless the land is already owned by the city. Vacant land is more scarce every day,” said the commercial real estate veteran. “It’s a hard row to hoe.”
For McMahon, who was just named superintendent in May, constructing new soccer fields is one of his top priorities. His plan is to renovate existing fields and collaborate with other organizations to build new soccer fields for shared use.
“Adult soccer has increased tremendously. There are only nine fields in the city we are able to provide leagues with permits to play on, and they are all heavily used,” McMahon said earlier this month. “The demand far exceeds the supply.”
McMahon hopes using synthetic turf will cut down on maintenance, prolonging the time the fields can be used during the year and taking the pressure off some of the other fields.
Synthetic turf, which is five to six times more expensive than a traditional sod field, requires no cutting, no fertilizations and no watering. Maintenance requires a small tractor that drives over the turf to “fluff up” the rubber granules.
“Maintenance is very important,” Francis said. “A lot of projects are put on the books with no arrangement for maintenance.”
In past years, leagues were able to use high school soccer fields during off-hours and off-season. However, this stopped about 10 years ago when schools were given exclusive use of their fields in order to keep the fields in good shape.
Additionally, the softball fields in neighborhood parks that doubled as soccer fields can no longer be used for soccer due to the overwhelming traffic and attendance that would generate in the small neighborhoods.
As a result of the loss of soccer fields to play on, the remaining nine fields became worn, some down to the dirt.
Two fields have already been renovated over the past two years ($105,000 renovation of the Hopkins Park soccer field on Admiral Street and a $73,000 renovation of the smaller Arnold Early Park on Cadillac Drive). Additionally, the soccer field on Gano Street is slated for renovation this fall.
The Park Department is already working with Meeting Street School on Waterman Avenue in East Providence to develop a soccer field, and also with Classical High School on Westminster Street. At the latter, they hope to use synthetic turf that will be used by the school during the week and by the city’s leagues on the weekends.
A site on Eddy Street in South Providence is going out to bid right now and McMahon hopes to build there in the fall. The Park Department is also discussing the feasibility of developing a soccer field in Roger Williams Park.
“It’s hard to buy three-and-a-half acres of land,” McMahon said. “There aren’t that many places with vacant land that is affordable.” •
