Little League Proposes Revamped Morrision Field

Residents in Westwood who use the tennis courts at Morrision Field may notice they need some repair. But the Westwood Little League is looking to take those repairs a step further.

In a preliminary proposal last week to the Westwood Board of Selectmen, WLL President John Loughnane presented a vision for what could be a completely-enhanced Morrision Field and surrounding park.

The idea was derived from discussions the WLL had with the Westwood Recreation Commission and Westwood Recreation Department on using funds obtained from the lease of the cell tower at the park.

In those discussion, the notion of using those funds to repair the tennis courts eventually led to the idea of improving the entire facility for multiple uses, from tennis to little league.

"Summer tournaments cannot be played in our town because the little league field is too short," Loughnane said during the presentation. "It's supposed to be 200 feet from home plate to the right field wall, and right now it's about 185 feet."

Specific improvements to the area, Loughnane explained, would be to install dugouts and a warning track in the outfield, as well a bathroom facility and updated concession stand. The overall layout of the park would not be greatly altered, he said.

"The way it's basically set up now is the way it should be set up," Loughnane said. "There's really not much adjustment at all to the men's softball field. The advantage of moving the men's field out a little bit is moving the flow of pedestrian access from one side of the fence to the other side."

That pedestrian traffic was a key factor driving the proposal, as the safety for athletes, children and parents at the park is not as good as it could be.

"It's a very busy street," Loughnane said of East Street. "It goes right up to the highway. It's nerve wracking if your kid leaves the park. It's not the safest way for it to be."

As far as the tennis courts go, officials are weighing the idea of potentially reducing the courts from two to one and enhancing the lighting at the park, as well as enhancing lighting at the tennis court to compensate for the athletes who enjoy playing after sunset.

The reduced court at Morrision Field, though, would allow for an expanding of the field as well as room for a potential "tot lot" playground, which would be helpful for parents who wish to avoid having small children cross the street to the School Street Playground.

While he did not have any concrete cost figures to present, Loughnane estimated that the project could cost anywhere from $450,00 to $600,000.

A portion of that cost would come from the cell phone tower lease funds, with the rest coming from funds raised by the Westwood Little League through anticipated events, programs and sponsorships.

"We are going to look to have a grassroots fundraising effort, but also will be looking for major sponsors to have a leadership role," Loughnane said.

The Selectmen granted their support for the project and encouraged Loughnane and the Westwood Recreation Commission to iron out the details on specific costs and plans for the project.

"One of the problems that I've experienced back in my day at Morrision is especially in late May, early June," said Selectmen Chair Pat Ahearn. "You have these thunderstorms that move through and you have to get those fields cleared in minutes."

Loughnane addressed the concern by saying that the dugouts would not be designed to pose as safe shelters during thunder and lightning, and during such weather patterns all patrons of the park should seek shelter in their cars or indoors.

Loughnane also said advancements and plans would accomdoate any need improvements to the area's drainage and runoff.

"You have such a great start to where we are now," Selectmen Clerk Nancy Hyde said. "I appreciate the fact that there's been a cooperative effort. The fact that you're addressing safety in the area, given that there are so many families an so many kids. I think the safety aspect is particularly appealing."

"When my son was of that age, I probably traveled the highways and byways of many fields in Eastern Massachusetts, and I thought that this was the prettiest and best field that we played on," Ahearn said.

"We're not going to have another place in town to do little league baseball," Loughnane said. "Our kids will by out of Little League by the time this is done."

He added that the project would also hope to make the park somewhat of a community center for Islington.

Loughnane said more information will be available at the WLL's upcoming , and a website is officially in the works, one that will provide information on the project and allow for residents to contribute funds via PayPal.