Plans for Mountain Brook fields in the works

Keeping athletic fields that hundreds of athletes use in any given season in pristine condition is not an easy task, and on Jan. 20 the Fields Committee met to discuss upkeep options with two fields: the football field at the junior high and the baseball field at the high school.

With representatives from all involved parties, the committee first addressed the junior high football field. Charlie Spencer, a previous Park Board member who has knowledge about the construction of the fields, discussed three options for the field, which included using turf sprigs, a standard sod or a sod grown in a sand and soil mixture. 

Of the three, the sod grown in a mixture would be the best option but also the most costly, Spencer said. "The highest end places use it – but they also have a high-end budget."

Because the sod is grown in both sand and soil, the water is able to absorb into the ground, which causes the roots of the sod to reach deeper. The deeper roots then make for a stronger layer of sod, said Allen Jones, turfgrass manager for the city. 

The cost for redoing the football field, line to line, would be around $120,000. "I guess we have to operate under the assumption that the cost is going to be borne by the city," said councilman Billy Pritchard. Pritchard also asked that Brian Lucas speak with the Mountain Brook Athletic groups who use the field to notify them that because of the renovations, their bills would be "a good bit higher."

Whit Colvin, city attorney, said that maintenance costs for all of the athletic fields would then be about $80,000 to $90,000 annually, but superintendent Dicky Barlow also mentioned that depending on the wear and tear on the fields after a given season, they may be able to only adjust the fields as needed. 

The committee also addressed the high school baseball field.

"It is becoming apparent that we need more field space for intramurals, and rather than going and trying to buy some property outside of Mountain Brook, we discussed is there property that is not being used all the time," said Barlow. "At the same time, we had some parents that have come to use about could we redo the baseball field and make it a turf baseball field." 

That property is the high school baseball field.

Although the school system does not have the funds to redo the field with turf, Barlow said that if the field was made to be used all year, then Mountain Brook Athletics could be brought in on the agreement and be able to use the field. After meeting with members at the high school, Barlow said the baseball field is really only off-limits in the spring and is open after 4:30 p.m. in the fall, which Lucas said would work well with the MBA football schedule. 

To complete the renovations, the cost would be around $800,000. While Barlow said currently there are no updates on fundraising for the ball field and facilities, Pritchard said that to move forward the decision of who is paying what needs to be solidified. "If the city is going to be asked to bear all of this cost, that's a big number. That's a real big number," he said. "An important component of this project would be what can come from third parties."

An idea that was brought up was including MBA by asking for one-third of the cost, which has been done in the past by placing a surcharge of $25 on athletics sign-ups for a number of years. "I can't speak for Mountain Brook Athletics on my part, but I think if we could do a minimal of $25 ... that's very doable," Lucas said. "It'll take a while. It's not like we're sitting on a pile of cash."

Pritchard added that in the end, the athletes and their families will be getting a new multi-purpose field at the high school with lights, parking, bathrooms and accessibility. "There's a real benefit in just trying to do it," he said. "As much as we try to find additional space it just hasn't been forthcoming and it would be terribly expensive."

While nothing was officially decided at the meeting, the representatives said they would do more research and have more meetings with affected parties before convening again on Feb. 10.