BIDDEFORD — Waterhouse Field has been a fixture in Biddeford for decades and school officials are hoping to make sure it continues to be a gathering place for the community for years to come.

In order to do that, the Biddeford School Department believes upgrades must be made – and school officials will hold a public forum on the issue on Monday at 6 p.m. in the Biddeford High School Library.

According to Biddeford Athletic Director Dennis Walton, the top priority for renovations at Waterhouse is safety.

“I think without a doubt the top priority is bleachers. Those bleachers are very, very tired and they are old. We obviously don’t want it to become a safety issue. We had a couple of broken boards this year during games. (Safety) is absolutely the top priority,” said Walton.

The school district wants to remove the existing bleachers and replace them with a set of stands that maintain the closeness of the spectators to the playing surface.

The public will be presented with several options for the size of the new bleachers – ranging from 2,750 to 4,000 capacity.

“In my opinion, I think right around 4,000 would be great. Right now we are closer to six (thousand) and I don’t think we need that. If we are going to bring this to the public, I think it’s important that we are being sensible,” said Walton.

The school would also like to make other renovations to the complex, including the possibility of either an updated or a new press box, new lights, expanding the field dimensions to meet standards for soccer, field hockey and lacrosse, repairing the parking lot, updating the locker rooms and bathrooms, a new scoreboard, develop and design end zone area for honoring donors and/or championships and a new sound system.

Walton believes the entire facility could use an upgrade.

“The rest of the facility, I think the best way to describe it is it’s very tired,” said Walton. “Other than the bleachers, I don’t think that anything is in such disarray that it can’t be updated and improved, meaning things like the buildings and stuff like that.”

One possible improvement would be the installation of an artificial turf field, which may cost more than natural grass at the beginning, but will potentially bring in money for years to come.

“When you look at the different levels of possibilities, obviously turf is a possibility. There is a pretty significant cost to turf, but people have to keep in mind that turf is a revenue generator,” said Walton. “When you are on natural grass, you try to play on it as little as possible. Where if you are on turf, you want to use it as much as possible. When you get turf, now you start renting out to men’s leagues and a lot of other different groups that want to use that facility.”

Walton is hoping to have a positive discussion with the public at Monday’s forum.

“That’s the big thing about the public forum that I think is so important. Bleachers are certainly a priority, I don’t think anyone would argue that that’s really needed … but in regards to everything else, the expense of the renovations to the buildings all the way up to the possibility of a turf field, I think it’s really important that we hear from community members and that they come and we can help educate them on where we are at and we certainly want to know how they feel,” said Walton.

Walton believes Waterhouse is an important part of the community.

“It’s got a long history, there’s no question about that. I mean it’s sort of a gathering place for the community and it always has been,” said Walton.

One thing that Walton wants to make sure happens is that Waterhouse continues to be a great place to watch a game – and a big part of that is the closeness of the stands to the field.

“I think people love the fact that there is no track around it because you are right on top of the action,” said Walton. “As far as the track, I said in the meeting, if someone said they wanted to donate a track around that field, we wouldn’t want it. There’s an allure to that field and we want to keep that. We want to renovate, but we don’t want to change what makes it so special.”

In the end, Walton believes the renovations to Waterhouse need to be done – and it all comes down to safety and keeping a piece of Biddeford history intact.

“I think it’s two-fold. One, I think that everyone is concerned about safety issues and when you talk about the bleachers, we are starting to look at safety issues. I think that’s a priority,” said Walton. “Two, again I believe that so many things are improving in Biddeford and renovations are being made downtown, renovations have just been made to the school … Biddeford is a special place, and I think Waterhouse Field is also a very special place and I think it’s in our best interest to give it some TLC.”

— Sports Editor Pat McDonald can be reached at pmcdonald@journaltribune.com or at 282-1535 ext. 322. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @ JournalTsports.