BIDDEFORD — The 27th annual La Kermesse festival may be only a memory now for the hundreds of local residents and visitors who enjoyed the festivities last month. However, the heavy rainfall which dampened some of the activities at the festival is having a lasting ”“ and costly ”“ effect on St. Louis field, where the event took place.

The field was damaged by trucks, amusements and other equipment that was moved on and off the wet greens. Repairing the field is estimated to cost $26,000, said Public Works Director Guy Casavant.

In addition, the field, which “in a good year is usually (available) about mid-August,” probably won’t be available until mid-September at the earliest, said Parks and Recreation Department Director Carl Walsh.

This will directly affect several soccer leagues which usually use the field starting in August and will now have to be relocated, said Walsh. The damage will also have an indirect impact on other sports like lacrosse and field hockey that use other fields in the city but will now have to share space with the relocated sports teams.

It will be up to the City Council to decide who will pay for the repair costs: The organization which puts on the festival or city taxpayers.

In the past, minor repairs to the field have been paid for by La Kermesse. But when more expensive repairs were required several years ago, costing almost as much as this year’s estimate, the city paid, said Casavant.

The city’s attorney is looking into whether La Kermesse’s insurance carrier covers damage to the field, said City Manager John Bubier.

Priscille Gagnon, president of La Kermesse, said although many recognized there would be heavy rainfall prior to and during the festival, “no one (from the city) approached me to tell me there would be a lot of damage.”

It wasn’t until July 6, well after the festival was over, she said, that she received notification from the city about the expense of the repairs to the field.

Gagnon noted that her organization has and continues to provide a number of benefits to the city, in addition to putting on the festival. Over the years, the festival has paid at least $200,000, estimates Gagnon, for many improvements not only to St. Louis field, but also in other areas of the city that benefit Biddeford as a whole.

Some of these items include a generator for the Parks and Recreation Department and numerous improvements at St. Louis field, like an aeration system to irrigate the field, an underground electrical system and lights. The organization also contributed $25,000 for the elevator fund at the Richard J. Martin Community Center where its offices are located, said Gagnon.

In addition, organizers allow other local non-profit organizations to use their stage free of charge and raise money with their own booths during the festival. Gagnon said they donate to other causes as well, such as a banquet for some high school seniors.

Meetings between the city and La Kermesse organizers, to determine how the field repair costs will be covered and the future of the festival, are ongoing, said Bubier.

Mayor Joanne Twomey said festival organizers have stated that both sponsorships and the number of volunteers helping to put on the event have decreased. This year, the annual block party which historically took place in the city’s downtown as a precursor to the events at St. Louis field didn’t take place because of a lack of funds.

“Is there a time when they look at it and say this will be it?” asked Twomey.

Suggestions of a different, less costly way to hold the festival, such as holding it in the downtown as a part of a larger festival, were discussed at a meeting between the city and festival organizers last week, said Twomey.

— Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 324 or dmendros@journaltribune.com.