By Stowell P. Watters

Staff Writer

Old Orchard Beach voters may have the chance to allow the town council to sell The Ballpark and the adjacent 100 acres for a public/private partnership – thus scraping the resident-created 2006 redevelopment plans if  councilors approve to move the question to the June referendum.

In a 2005 non-binding referendum, voters authorized the town to sell The Ballpark – but not the adjacent playing fields, pending the creation of a master plan. Despite numerous workshops, an official plan was never completed.

Council Chairman James Long said tough economic times have forced the town to consider what is realistic for the future of The Ballpark.

“The reality, in the world we live in, is the town cannot afford to build the things people want,” Long said, highlighting a predicted state school subsidy loss of nearly $600,000 for the upcoming fiscal year.

His comments drew jeers from residents attending the workshop.

“I came tonight thinking we would be talking about moving forward, building on what we have already done,” resident Linda Jenkins said. “I am insulted you want to put this back to the voters.”

In 2006, the town paid the architectural firm Holt & Lachman $22,600 to host a series of public forums to get residents involved in the production of a redevelopment plan for The Ballpark. 

The Ballpark, which was once home to the minor league baseball team The Maine Guides, has essentially been unused for more than a decade. Once it was a concert venue where bands such as Aerosmith came to play, according to former Town Manager Jim Thomas who said it now serves the town as a dilapidated shadow of its former self. Last year vandals set fire to the upper portion of the seating area and the field is pocked with holes, long grass and in some places, wires. Last summer the Old Orchard Beach Public Works Department was able to carve 74 parking spaces from The Ballpark property for high school football games.

Through the initiative of former Town Council Chairman Joe Kline, The Ballpark drew some activity last summer. Local developer Tim Swenson uprooted some of the larger shrubs in the outfield, the Old Orchard Beach Police Department cleared out a garage to store of some of their equipment and a study revealed that all the lights still worked. 

The Holt & Lachman sessions, which drew an average crowd of 100 residents for each of the four day-long meetings, was substantiated by the creation of a 13-member steering committee. The firm gathered 14 conceptual plans from residents and with that information developed  a series of four plans.

“The four phase plan showed how the town could phase in elements of development and housing to offset the cost of also creating a community center and provide for mixed use land development,” said Alan Holt of Holt & Lachman. 

Holt said this plan was more widely accepted than the  Thomas’ previous vision of The Ballpark, which showed intense development and commercial land use. 

“I think residents were pleased by the outcome,” Holt said.

However, Councilor Robin Dayton said Holt’s plans did not represent the 14 original concepts.

“I don’t believe they reflect much of what was on those 14 conceptual visions at all. Many of us felt that three of them in particular reflected heavy housing development – more condos – which is specifically what we wanted to avoid,” she said. “Why do we have to keep jumping to this sell, sell, sell attitude?”

Councilor Roxanne Frenette responded, noticeably agitated. 

“You say why? I say why not, I want to see this happen in my lifetime,” Frenette said.

Ocean Park resident Helene Whittaker said she was disappointed by the council’s alleged stagnation concerning The Ballpark. 

“I am truly, truly disappointed in the council. We saw the final report two years ago and nothing was said from that day on. We have never received guidance from you and now you want to sell it with no direction as to its future usage?” she asked.

Councilor Shawn O’Neill said he would also like to sell some of the property, but not with the intent of creating a community center, as many residents listed as a good use of the property. Rather, he proposed selling some of the land to fund the “too small” public safety building.

Long said the 2005 vote was merely to gather input from the town and, because it was an advisory non-binding referendum, it vested no authority with the council.

“We got the consensus – you voted ‘yes’ to selling it. Now we need the power to do so,” Long said.

He continued by clarifying the property could not be sold to a private contractor without a council vote of approval upon a master plan for the area. He said he understood people have “fears and hesitations concerning a strip mall,” but “that is not the case.”

Old Orchard Beach resident Andrea Berlin asked Long whether the town would consider using its good bonding status to help pay for projects on the land.

“We have serious problems in town and we have no money, I am prepared to sell the land and bond, and I think it will take a combination of both to get something done,” said a frustrated Long. “But what we have now is total paralysis.”

Long said the council will vote on the possible referendum in an upcoming meeting.

To contact Stowell P. Watters call 282-4337, ext 219 or email news@inthecourier.com.