City to Replace Pagel Field Turf After JP Youth Soccer Petition

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Pagel Field on Hyde Park Avenue is one of the most used fields in Boston, and that use has made the artificial terrain unsafe, according to an online petition. In response to the petition, the city will be doing a full turf replacement.

Pagel Field's surface is badly in need of repair says JP Youth Soccer parents.

"The artificial turf on the field desperately needs to be replaced. It is significantly worn down and there are health and safety concerns with children playing on a field in such a state of neglect. Replacing the surface with new turf will provide a safer and better soccer experience for children in our community," reads the change.org petition.

Jamaica Plain Youth Soccer (JPYS) uses Pagel Field, which is in Roslindale, as well as English High School. From JPYS alone, more than 300 kids grades 1 through 6 use the field during the fall and spring soccer seasons, wrote Alfred Gracombe, a JPYS coach who started the petition.

The city recently had the field tested, and it was determined that some of it was in immediate need of repairs, said Ryan Woods, Commission of the Boston Parks and Recreation Department to Jamaica Plain News. Woods said that instead of doing patch jobs, funds are being allocated to replace the entire field. The project will be put out to bid, and Woods estimated the project could cost around $400,000.

"We look forward to having a newly renovated field for spring of 2020," said Woods.

Previously, JPYS bought new goals for the field, as the prior ones needed to be replaced.

"JPYS is a growing program that serves families from many neighborhoods in our city. Other soccer programs in this part of the city are also growing and the city of Boston needs to be able to provide safe, good quality athletic fields to help support these programs that provide indisputable benefit to children and their families," says the petition.

The petition had more than 1,200 signatures as of Nov. 10.

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