DOVER — Dover High School athletes will not be playing on new fields in fall 2025 as originally targeted. The City Council has pushed a vote on
multi-million-dollar upgrades to the school's
athletic complex until spring amid concerns about costs and the
ongoing debate about natural grass vs. artificial turf. "The council wasn't ready to vote, so we canceled next week's meeting and will take it up again after budget season," said City Councilor Fergus Cullen, who leads the Joint Building Committee overseeing the project. "I think there is broad consensus that the existing fields are inadequate. Something needs to be done. We can't kick the can down the road several more years. We need to commit to a new construction plan in the near term." Cullen said delaying the vote until spring means a contractor can't be signed in time to complete the project in time for the fall 2025 sports season. Many community members raised concerns over costs of the proposed $19.2 million project to overhaul Dunaway Field and the baseball field at Wednesday night's council meeting. "We would like to note that every part of the athletic project comes out of the school budget. This impacts the children, the schools, as well as taxpayers," said Susan Smith, a member of the Dover Plastics Reduction group that opposes artificial turf. "We would like to request the following: one, delay a decision on the playing field until we all see all of the costs. We request that City Council obtain a split bid for grass vs. synthetic turf for all costs for over 20 years. Two, we request that City Council ensure that all citizens know how this athletic project stresses the School Board budget, and how it adds to taxes. Note the public has seen no estimates added to household taxes per year to pay for the whole project." "The School Board and taxpayers should not have to pay for all this," Smith added, stressing the council should seek additional funding sources.
Two less expensive Dover athletic complex options proposed
A roughly $14 million version of the project, Plan B, was proposed Wednesday night, keeping much of the
original proposal . It calls for Dunaway Field to be replaced with synthetic turf, a full replacement of the track, new lights on Dunaway Field, a home grandstand, and natural grass on the baseball field, which would stay in its current location instead of being rotated 180 degrees to accommodate a second multi-sport field. A new visiting side grandstand on Dunaway Field, new concessions, a bathrooms building and athletics storage barn would all be cut. The cheapest option at around $10 million, referred to as Plan C, would keep most of Plan B in a new Dunaway Field, while renovating the existing home grandstand to be ADA compliant and repair the press box. This proposal does not include the creation of new grandstands. The baseball field would not be renovated, leaving it in its current condition. This plan also cuts the facilities building and pick-up/drop off parking proposed in the original plan.
Turf vs. grass debate intensifies: overwhelming support of turf from DHS students
More than 50 people spoke about the project and many weighed in on the turf vs. grass debate in two public hearings held related to the athletic complex Wednesday night. Many Dover student-athletes shared why they are in favor of the project moving forward, specifically with turf fields. Lily Hunt, Dover High senior lacrosse player said, "I am recently recovering from a torn Achilles, and I feel that I am more afraid to play on our grass fields now than playing on turf. I understand there's safety benefits of playing on grass, but where our grass fields are right now it is way safer to play on turf. I also understand the cost is a big issue, but the cost of losing athletes to fear of playing on our fields right now is 10 times more important. I think it is more beneficial to do it now than wait 10 more years to have way more kids drop out of sports because they were afraid to play on our fields." Peter Wotton, who
retired this year after 28 years as the DHS athletic director, urged the city leaders to move ahead with the project. "If we continue to divide this up into little projects and keep kicking this can down the road, the cost is going to grow exponentially," he said. "I urge you to do this. Do it right. Don't divide it up. These kids deserve it. They put an awful lot of their time into taking part into school activities, and I think this is a time to reward them." Kevin Sprague, president of the Dover Baseball youth program, said, "I know it sounds like a large number, but we need to put it in perspective. That perspective is we're talking about less than 1%, a fraction of 1% of the city budget." Voices on the other side of the issue cited opposition to artificial turf and cost. "I'm a strong supporter of having good schools and I don't mind paying taxes," said Robert Godon. "However, installing artificial turf on Dover fields doesn't seem like a good use of tax dollars. I'm also having trouble understanding why we're making this move now as other organizations are calling for the removal of that product. ... For the safety of our students and to lessen the burden on taxpayers, I'm 100% opposed to the installation of artificial turf." Kristine Baber said, "I would like to urge you to bring in experts on natural grass installation and maintenance before any vote, so the City Council can make a more informed decision about the viability or natural grass. No natural grass experts have been invited to JBC meetings despite requests since March."
