Memorial Park Turf Project Enters Design Phase

October 19, 2026
• The total construction cost is estimated at $626,000, with more than half to be covered by a potential donation.

The Needham Park and Recreation Commission approved funding for the design of turf at the Memorial Park baseball diamond, an effort that would aim to mitigate flooding issues on the field and respond to anticipated disruption with the Pollard Middle School project.

The project is estimated to cost $626,000, though a significant portion would come from Needham Baseball and Softball. The organization committed to donating $325,000, pending certain conditions. The donation would need to be approved by the Park and Rec Commission and the Select Board.

Dave Volante, president of NBS, said the intent is to both offset the total cost but also to expedite the process to ensure all user groups have access to usable diamonds. “Time is of the essence,” he said.

“Something needs to happen,” Volante said, “or else not only our programs, but just baseball in Needham at the big diamond level in general, from the high school to the summer league teams to our programs, really wouldn’t be able to exist.”

The town currently has three 90-foot diamonds. Short bouts of rain makes Memorial “unplayable” Volante said, and if the Pollard reconstruction funding is approved, the Warner Field diamond would be used for construction laydown space for five years, starting in March 2028. That could leave Walker-Gordon as the only 90-foot diamond in town, straining the high school and middle school teams, Legion baseball and NBS’s programs.

The Park and Recreation Commission voted on Oct. 7 to expend up to $75,000 for design out of its revolving fund. The true cost, with contingencies, is likely slightly less than that. Alternatively, a grass diamond renovation would cost $125,000, but commission members unanimously supported the turf.

If approved, the entire infield, through home plate and all the dugouts, would be turf, while the outfield would remain grass. A turf diamond would be less prone to flooding and require less maintenance. Teams could also potentially start their season sooner as well, Parks and Recreation Assistant Director Hannah Corrigan said.

Funding for artificial turf would not be eligible for Community Preservation Act dollars.

The $626,000 construction estimate includes drainage work under the field, but “not enough to actually fix the entire field,” Deputy Town Manager Liz LaRosee said. The work would, however, “make the field more playable,” she said.

Funding for construction would be placed in the FY28 capital budget and voted on at the May 2027 Town Meeting, LaRosee said. Typically, projects are planned out years in advance, but the town is working with an abbreviated timeline with the potential Pollard project, she said.

“It’s wonderful to be able to plan in advance and be planful and thoughtful about how we’re going to spend money five or six or seven years out, but some things just come up,” she said. “It’s not a promise. It’s a request for capital funds.”

The Park and Rec Commission spoke extensively about diamond maintenance over the last year, when in talks with NBS about the need for field improvements. Parks and Forestry Superintendent Tim Carpenter recently told the commission his department looks to put $40,000-$60,000 in its upcoming budget toward “fluff and buffs,” shorthand for raking, mowing and other upkeep measures at the fields.

Commission members expressed gratitude for the NBS donation and acknowledged the drainage concerns at the diamond.

“When we’ve had discussions up until now, there’s been a lot of conversation about the fact that the water, it’s been creating an issue across all of the user groups,” Chair Michelle Geddes said at the Oct. 7 meeting, “and that the high school is a major user. [NBS] want to support that group, as well as their own user groups.”

This spring, NBS saw more than 1,000 kids — from Kindergarten to 17 years old — come through their program, Volante said. The Rockets Select team, Legion, the Needham High School freshman team, NHS junior varsity and varsity baseball and the middle school team all use the three big diamonds.

Volante’s son Ryan played on the NHS varsity team this past season, and the team needed to find a new field “after a little bit of rain because they can’t play on their own,” Dave Volante said. “I think the varsity team practiced twice on the field all season,” he said.

Volante added he hopes a turf redesign will benefit all those who play at Memorial.

“Essentially we’ll be able to play on it whenever and have no sort of issue and no restrictions,” Volante said. “And the consistency of that for our scheduling and for games and everything else at the high school level will obviously be huge.”

There is discussion of longer-term solutions for flood mitigation at Memorial Park and whether that can be incorporated into existing Department of Public Works projects, LaRosee said.