Lewiston Sun Journal

Jul. 11—LEWISTON — Dozens of potential solutions were shared at a community forum Tuesday night to discuss mitigating continued vandalism at the Lewiston High School sports fields.

The City Council voted 5-2 in June to limit access to the high school sports complex to reservations only. The complex includes Don Roux Field, Joe Deschenes Baseball Field and the Franklin track and tennis courts.

More than 50 people, including at least 10 elected officials, attended the discussion, which lasted about two hours. Over two dozen people shared their opinions about access.

Superintendent Jake Langlais tallied 65 potential solutions during the discussion.

Several people emphasized there were two issues at hand: people who use the fields but don't follow the policies and people who intentionally destroy the facilities. Problems with each of these groups require different solutions, they said, adding that closing the facility is unlikely to stop the second, more problematic group.

Major issues at the complex include littering, pebbles being thrown on the turf fields and vandalism. At times, reservations to use the facility have been interrupted too, Langlais said.

Some people spoke in support of closing the facilities as the best solution, noting that it must be preserved for the sake of high school athletes, facility renters and taxpayers. It's a position supported by Lewiston High School Athletic Director Jason Fuller and the majority of the City Council.

Fuller previously said he and other staff members have spent countless hours cleaning up the field. At times, equipment had to be replaced due to damage.

Others insisted on exploring alternatives, including increasing signs around the fields, installing a surveillance system, posting weekly reservation schedules and educating downtown children and families.

Installing a surveillance system has been a particularly popular idea among residents on social media. Langlais estimated that such a system would cost between $500,000 and $1 million.

Langlais said he felt the conversations were productive. He believes the most feasible idea is to increase supervision around the fields, whether by volunteers or people paid by stipend.

After the meeting, he collected contact information from about two dozen people interested in volunteering and continuing the conversation.

"I do think the community has the capacity to do better than this," he said.

Amran Osman has similar thoughts. She's the executive director of Generational Noor, a local nonprofit organization, which aims to destigmatize conversations about substance abuse and mental health among people from various racial and ethnic backgrounds.

Osman noted that many children go to the high school fields because they don't have space outside of their homes to play. She said she knows of many people who would be willing to help supervise the fields.

AnNisa Abdi, a volunteer for Generational Noor and a staff member of the Next STEP program, feels it's important for the school district to partner with community organizations to encourage families to raise their standard of care for public spaces.

Both expressed concerns that many of the people affected most by the closure of the athletic complex were not in attendance for the discussion. They stressed that the issue needs to be considered through a cultural lens which takes into account the poverty and trauma that many downtown families face.

Langlais said the school district has worked to reach downtown families. Notification for the community forum was sent out to all families with multilingual options through the same channels as bus cancellations.

Ironically, he said school officials visited a mosque in Lewiston to discuss caring for the athletic fields the day before a concession stand was vandalized in June.

Additionally, Langlais suggested at the start of the meeting that the pebbles surrounding the turf fields could be replaced by a porous material which cannot be thrown onto the fields.

At-Large School Committee representative Megan Parks said the school could solicit help from local businesses for the project.

Mona Abdi said she does not feel that criminalizing extracurricular activities at the high school athletic complex is the answer. She represents Lewiston High School and the surrounding neighborhoods in the Maine House of Representatives.

As a former member of the track and field team at Lewiston High School, she said it was unacceptable to think she or other students could have been penalized for using the track outside of practice.

She and Ward 3 School Committee representative Elizabeth Eames suggested posting signs which use illustrations, rather than words, to encourage better care of the facility.

Former high school soccer coach Mike McGraw also spoke to the importance of field access for many youths in the community. He encouraged officials to work with youth who use the fields regularly to help education the broader community.

Officials have encouraged people to use the fields at Connors Elementary School and Mike McGraw Park on Bartlett Street instead of the turf fields at the high school.

The topic will again be discussed by the council at its meeting next Tuesday at 7 p.m.