LEWISTON — A local nonprofit organization and city and school officials are attempting to form programs to help look after the artificial turf fields in Lewiston and keep them open to the public.
The efforts have taken shape after city officials considered closing the fields at the Franklin Pasture complex to the public due to continued vandalism. Following a public forum, the City Council postponed a final reading on the closure to allow more time for alternate proposals to come together.
This week, city officials said an effort known as Friends of Franklin Complex will roll out in August, led by staff members from the Public Works and Recreation departments.
City Administrator Heather Hunter said an initial meeting set for Wednesday at Lewiston High School is designed to register volunteers, tour the full complex and “do a light cleanup that night.”
Another proposal in the works, from Kevin Boilard, was presented to the council just before its meeting July 18. Boilard, who operates the nonprofit Kaydenz Kitchen, a food pantry and resource center, is trying to bring together multiple organizations and volunteers to implement a coalition that would help oversee the field, taking some responsibility away from Lewiston’s athletic director, who has been overwhelmed by continuing issues there.
According to Boilard’s presentation sent to the council, the group would “host monthly community events, work on educational information on proper field use, provide clean up support before events or in case of vandalism, form a sports complex ‘watch’ team, create youth mentor programs that provide guidance and support, and collaborate with local businesses for funding support.”
Boilard said that when learned the council was slated to vote July 18 on closing the fields, “we scrambled to get the proposal together.” During the meeting, a majority of councilors agreed that given the public response to the proposed closing, the community should be given time to conduct further discussions on how to address field damage.
When asked about the proposal from Boilard and Kaydenz Kitchen, Hunter said she is hopeful they will attend Wednesday’s meeting “and loop in their teams.”
Boilard said it is a positive step the city is forwarding an initiative, but hopes there continues to be robust discussions among stakeholders. He also said if the city wants to take the lead, “we have no problem taking a backseat and providing whatever assistance or support we can if wanted.”
“I am hopeful and optimistic about the Friends of Franklin Complex initiative,” he said, “but genuinely believe that without some form of community collaboration being involved, we will be revisiting this challenge again. Everyone needs to be part of this solution for it to have long term sustainability.”
Boilard said he received an invitation to Wednesday’s meeting from Superintendent Jake Langlais.
During the July 18 City Council meeting, Boilard said the public forum on the fields made it clear the public wants the “community to come together with a solution,” and that they do not want the city to “move forward with knee-jerk reaction.”
Boilard said he put together the proposal because he wanted officials to know there are people in the community who care, and that people can “step up” to help.
“We know there needs to be a bit of accountability,” he said. “Whatever they’re looking for, we want someone to be standing behind this gesture. It shows that the community can come together.”
Boilard said because Kaydenz Kitchen works with several nonprofits that are youth-based, it could be an opportunity to involve neighborhood youth beginning at younger ages.
Boilard added that the recent proposal to close the fields to public use only reinforces the idea that “Lewiston can’t have nice things.”
“I personally don’t believe that,” he said. “People watch and see how a city responds to things like this.”
Hunter said the City Council is scheduled to hold a workshop Aug. 15 on the field ordinance and policy changes, and to discuss the outcome of the first Friends of Franklin Complex meeting.
When asked about the efforts to form some kind of organization to protect the fields, Mayor Carl Sheline said: “This community effort to help develop a solution to keeping the fields open confirms what I’ve known about Lewiston all along: Our residents care about each other and the city that we live in. I fully support a community solution and I hope that we can come up with a workable plan soon.”
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