Northern Field: sidelined

[attach]2250[/attach]September’s come around and Northern Secondary School still doesn’t have a new field.

But the grass is looking a little greener.

After years of fundraising, things are falling into place for the proposed redevelopment of the massive Clarke Pulford athletic field.

At a stakeholders meeting over the summer, K&G Developments reportedly said they plan to go ahead with a development at 299 Roehampton Ave. that would see them pay into a neighbourhood development fund at the city. Half of the funds, or $500,000, are earmarked for the Northern field project.

The school community has raised over $240,000 toward the field and the school board has kicked in $130,000, but the $1-million minimum price tag on the new field has, until now, made the goal elusive.

“The developer indicated that they intended to go forward and they’ve filed their paperwork,” said Paul Addie, chair of the stakeholders group.

Though things are looking good, the community is taking a hefty dose of caution with their optimism.

“The money has been pledged and I am very confident … but we need to ensure that we’ve got the money in the bank before we make an announcement,” said school board trustee Josh Matlow.

Matlow has reason to be weary.

Last year it was announced things would be moving forward with the Roehampton development, but K&G were slow to file application papers, delaying the funds.

“They (didn’t) even seem to want the bills through,” said Councillor Michael Walker. “They found a procedural way of not handing the money over.”

Walker’s been a supporter of allocating those funds to the field, and helped to shepherd an additional $130,000 from another development’s neighbourhood development fees toward the project.

The delays came as a blow to the school, which had already endured a dispiriting public flaying in 2007 of their unsuccessful plans to put a [url=https://streeter.ca/grass-isnt-greener.html]dome over the field[/url].

And that same public voice is still very much a part of the conversation, especially when it comes to the issue of community use.

Many in the community say that since the majority of the funding for the new field is public money (coming from local developers subject to the Ontario Planning Act’s Section 37, which requires them to pony up for neighbourhood development projects), the public should have special access to the new facilities.

“The school board and the school recognize that given the fact that so much of the funds that are going to be contributed to this new field will come … from the city … residents are a shareholder in this new field,” Matlow said.

Although it’s reportedly been a major sticking point, both sides say they’re ready to sign a deal.

Under the community-use draft agreement, community-use hours will be posted at the field, offering weekends and two nights per week to the public. The other three nights per week will be available under permit from the school. The school will retain first rights, however, should there be any special events.

“We’re satisfied that we’re getting a substantial amount of use in the evenings and on the weekends,” Walker said.

Although the community-use agreement and funding appears to be on the right track, Addie said the justifiably nervous stakeholders group is concerned that the project may become mired in election politics this fall.

Two high-profile council candidates running for the ward, however, have been directly involved in bringing the project this far — Matlow, as trustee, and Chris Sellors, as the former assistant to Councillor Walker — indicating from a city perspective at least, things should be smooth sailing.