AUBURN — The nearly 500 local youth competing on Auburn Suburban Baseball & Softball teams may soon have a brand new facility to call home.
Next week, the Planning Board will review the league’s plan for a new, multifield athletic complex at Hotel and Stevens Mill roads — a plan that has been in the works since 2020 when the league was gifted the 30-acre property.
According to Planning Board documents, the project, if approved, will consist of two Little League fields and one Babe Ruth-size baseball field, as well as a practice field with batting cages. It also includes three proposed parking areas, a concession building with bathroom facilities and a maintenance and storage garage.
The organization uses fields at Stevens Mill and Garfield roads on land owned by the Maine National Guard. In 202o, the league announced it had been gifted land off Hotel Road and worked with the National Guard and city staff to plan the move and scope of work.
Travis Bashaw, the league’s president, told the Sun Journal at the time that the land off Hotel Road was one of the properties considered for the new Edward Little High School, but was eliminated from consideration due to wetland concerns. Recent studies for the project have shown that about 17 acres of the site are developable.
According to a city memo, the scope of work needed for the facility includes clearing trees, construction of a gravel access road, and installation of stormwater management, the final plans for which will be submitted once the league has determined its field surface material — natural or artificial turf. That decision will come down to fundraising, the memo said.
Road frontage for the site is on the southern side of Stevens Mill Road, some 400 feet from Sprucewood Road, the memo said.
If approved, the facility would have on-site parking along the facility roadway. In total, the project proposes 173 on-site parking spaces.
Auburn Suburban Baseball & Softball is a nonprofit youth sports organization that has roughly 500 youth ranging in age from 4 to 16 years playing on nearly 50 teams. It supports its own regular season, in-house playoffs for several leagues and participation in regional and state all-star tournaments.
According to the memo, the organization plans to make the new facility the “exclusive home for all ASBS games, events & activities.” City officials have previously said the project ties in to recent efforts to attract “sports tourism” in Auburn, with the new facility potentially allowing Auburn to host regional tournaments.
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