ROCKPORT — Upgrades to the weight room at Camden Hills Regional High School has been lined up for the near future. The school may also convert Don Palmer Field to athletic turf. 

The ideas came at the Five Town Consolidated School District school board meeting June 5 from outgoing athletic director Steve Alex, with Director of Facilities Keith Rose also acknowledging the need for a turf field.  

Weight Room Upgrades

Alex detailed to the school board in his monthly report for its June 5 meeting the athletic department’s need for a new paint job and equipment upgrades in the weight room, which he said has seen a significant increase in usage by students. 

He requested around $10,000 in funding for the upgrades. 

The board voted to begin a fundraising campaign for $7,500 for new equipment, while $3,500 will be allocated to the project from expended money in the athletic department budget. 

The $3,500 will cover replacing the weight room’s floor. 

Turf Fields

Worsened weather conditions over the past couple of years has had significant impact on Camden Hills athletic teams and their schedules, particularly on the spring sports. 

In his monthly report to the school board, Alex noted due to the school’s main playing field always being wet, the lacrosse teams relinquished home matches and was forced to play more games on the road this season in order to not fall too far behind in the athletic schedule. 

The tennis teams were not able to access the lower training field by the school’s tennis courts this season, thus straying from normal training requirements. Alex praised the Midcoast Recreation Center in Rockport for allowing the school to use its indoor tennis courts on a daily basis. 

“Without that opportunity our tennis programs would not be nearly as successful as they are,” Alex said. 

The track and field team, Alex noted, did not receive adequate training in javelin and discus throwing due to poor field conditions. 

The baseball and softball teams actually collected extra home games since some opponents did not have playable fields at the time whereas Camden Hills did. 

“I would really like to ask that the board seriously consider supporting an artificial turf field for the high school as soon as practical,” Alex wrote in his June report. “Our field resources are just too limited for all of the sports that we offer. Add in that we also have been helping out the CRMS athletic programs and that the lower training field has gone down-hill, it is now time to solve this problem. Continuous use along with poor late fall and spring conditions will eventually catch up to us and we will become even more limited to what we can actually do.”

He continued, in the report, to say the board should look into a bond to cover the costs since it took nearly the school nearly two years to raise $175,000 for the bleacher project. 

In his monthly report, Rose stated for the first time in a dozen years, his crew of groundskeepers will use a chemical herbicide to eliminate weeds at the lower practice fields. The field will then be re-seeded and the facilities crew will then return to its usual organic fertilization and maintenance program. 

“I believe it’s time to seriously consider either turning the Don Palmer field into an artificial turf field or building a new field on the land adjacent to the Marge Jones field,” Rose wrote. 

Alex noted the turf field can be installed over a summer, should the school board move forward with the proposal. 

The school board and finance committee have tabled the item for the time being and will further investigate the situation, according to minute meetings from the finance committee. 

Reach George Harvey at: sports@penbaypilot.com.