Norwood Conservation Commission Approves Father McAleer Playground Soccer Fields-July 17, 1985

On the evening of July 16, 1985, the Norwood Conservation Commission granted unanimous approval to the Recreation Department for an ambitious plan to construct two new soccer fields at the Father McAleer playground, located at the intersection of Vernon and Hawthorne streets.

The project, which has already received $110,000 in funding from the Town Meeting, is set to move forward immediately, according to Recreation Department Superintendent Robert Ivatts, who estimates the fields could be fully prepared for play within one year.

Dale MacKinnon, an engineer retained by the Recreation Department, detailed the technical requirements of the project, which involve the filling of approximately 3,200 square feet of wetlands.

To maintain environmental balance, the plan includes the creation of a new, equivalent wetlands area of the same size. As a condition of the approval, the commission has mandated that the developer must complete the restoration of the new wetlands before any construction activity begins on the fields themselves.

The site currently hosts a single multi-purpose athletic field that serves local soccer, baseball, and football programs. Town Engineer Walter Ryan emphasized the pressing need for this expansion, noting that there are currently between 1,000 and 1,200 soccer players residing in Norwood.

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger