Freemans Field Improvements Underway

BREWSTER – Work has begun on a project to make three athletic fields on Freemans Way more accessible in compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act. 

 Improvements will be made to one of the two little league fields on the property, the Babe Ruth field and a third field that is used for soccer and lacrosse. The project also calls for new benches and picnic tables at each of the three fields.

 Town Engineer Griffin Ryder said the accessibility project grew out of work that was done to create a driveway leading up to the two little league fields during his time as the town’s public works director.

 “It’s really kind of the next phase of that,” he said. “We didn’t have all the money to do everything we wanted to do, but it’s an accessible trail improvement project basically to provide access to the fields.”

 Work began this week at the little league fields, where Ryder said trails will be created to provide better access to the dugouts. 

 “Right now it’s just grass, which is not an accessible surface,” he said. “ADA accessibility requires a hard, durable surface.”

 At the Babe Ruth field, plans call for the existing accessible parking area to be redone near the water department. A new ramp will extend from the ADA-compliant spaces out to the field’s dugouts, while there are also plans to build a new seated retaining wall behind the field’s backstop.

 “I think it will be a really nice amenity where folks can sit behind the backstop and watch baseball going on,” Ryder said.

 At the soccer/lacrosse field, the new trail will not only allow for better accessibility, but will also serve as a recreational walking path for residents and visitors.

 “We try to be thoughtful every time we do a project, take a step back and look at it and think if there’s a way to make it better,” Ryder said. “Because you only have one shot to do it right.”

 Work on the soccer/lacrosse field is slated to begin in the second week of November so as not to interrupt the town’s recreational soccer schedule. The fields will be closed during construction except for the Babe Ruth field, which will be open on evenings and on weekends for fall baseball.

 Work on the fields is being funded largely through the Community Preservation Act. Work is expected to be completed in the winter, but Ryder noted that additional paving could continue into the spring months.

 “Certainly by the next season we’ll be ready to go,” he said.