After years of wear and tear on Barnstable High School sports facilities, athletic director Scott Thomas decided to create a “Master Field Plan Improvement.” This initial layout contains the expected design of future athletic facilities of BHS; with upgrades to every sports field and outdoor building.

“This project is a lot to take on, but to make it easier we will approach it in three parts,” Thomas said. The first section of this plan is the stadium field. “The current turf is going on its ninth year of use, and will be fixed up. Also, in this part of the fields, the old bleachers will be taken down and will be replaced by new ones, most likely in time for graduation,” Thomas said.  In addition, a new press box will be installed, along with a brand new scoreboard donated by the COBB Trust.

The next additions will be made to the baseball fields. “When I first started working here I noticed how poor the conditions of the baseball field were. We used some budget money to do some leveling, put some sod down, and make fencing changes,” Thomas said. But these changes were only temporary and could only hold up for a few years.The current backboard is still made of wood, which some would call “old fashioned,” and a new one will be ready for this upcoming season. For this field, the footprint will be kept the same, but the current natural grass will be replaced with an artificial turf surface. “This will not be limited to a baseball field, but rather multipurpose sports fields where softball and rectangular sports like lacrosse, field hockey and soccer events will be held,” Thomas added.

After these major alterations are included, more minor details will be added, such as additions to more fields extending into the Barnstable Intermediate School area. “ Also towards the end of renovations we will lay the groundwork for a walking path placed nicely around all of the fields so everything will be connected. This path will allow people to branch from the boredom of walking in circles around the track,” Thomas said.  There will also be  a center for bathrooms, trainers and storage space behind the baseball fields and bleachers, kind of like what the current “Building M,” and hopefully some additions to the dugouts.

“The first phase of this project will take about a year, and we still have to think about where our teams would play while the renovations will take place,” Thomas said. There is so much that goes into this ambitious plan, but these are definitely efforts deemed necessary for our athletes. Faculty is hoping to get support from alumni and foundations to help out this massive project that would benefit mostly everyone. Even though the Master Field Plan Improvement is still in the process of being approved and our main source of funding is not completely determined yet, it will be a priority for our capital budgeting going forward. In retrospect it will most likely be a combination of school funds, donations and fundraising that will help us put this all together.

“We are going to attack a lot of different areas we need to improve upon as we go through this project. Once we finish, this will be the premier interscholastic athletic facility; we will be the envy of all. After all, our championship athletes deserve it,” Thomas said.