Voters in South Portland, Maine, voted ‘no’ on a referendum to spend $12 million to upgrade the high school’s athletic fields and track. Roughly 56% of voters rejected the referendum that would have added $125 in property taxes to homes valued at $500,000.
According to WGME 13, the South Portland athletic director, Todd Livingston said, “South Portland High School students have been playing on the same grass field and track since it was built in the 1960s.”
Of three referendums on the ballot, the athletic field updates were the most expensive. Originally, school leaders hoped to build a new eight-lane track, update the lights, update the scoreboard and build better bathrooms. They also hoped to convert the grass football field and other practice fields to synthetic turf.
“Our student athletes just deserve better than this facility that we currently have. It's not that it can't be maintained, but we play everything here, and it just can't support that amount of usage,” said Livingston.
The school’s boys’ track team won the state championship last school year, but this season, they won’t be able to host a home meet because of the state of the current track. The playing fields face a similar fate. Having a grass field means that games could be canceled due to poor field conditions.
Some of the local residents who opposed the referendum weren’t as concerned with the cost as they were with the environmental impact of updating the athletic facilities. One voter, Karen Talentino told WGME 13, “We support that in terms of what is needed. What we don’t support is the composition of the fields that they’ve chosen. We believe they should be natural grass.”
Another voter, Priscilla Dreyman, agreed telling WGME 13, “It will affect our marshes. It will affect our rivers, but then it will end up in Casco Bay.”
