They will come, but will you build it already?
Soccer crusaders who once squared off over where to put a ball field in Fort Greene have united around the idea of installing one in an unloved asphalt lot in Commodore Barry Park.
Tom Wentworth has spent much of this year pushing for the parks department to cover the lot in artificial turf and nay-saying the parallel proposal by Mitchell Ratchik, who wanted to upgrade a dirt patch in Fort Greene Park where people play pickup games. But now Ratchik is on board with the blacktop idea and the passionate pair are confident that the Parks Department will hear their plea.
“Parks is really into turfing fields, especially if it’s on concrete slabs that are not being used,” Wentworth said.
All that is missing, they say, is public pressure, which is where their petition comes in. The appeal brought in more than 100 signatures in just days and the turf push may pick up steam now that Ratchik has dropped his rival entreaty.
Installing a basic turf field would take 4 to 5 million dollars, according to Wentworth, and it is a sum he says local pols could easily provide.
“It’s what city councilors are used to bringing back to their districts,” he said of the cost.
Some soccer players — including the youth-focused Young Rock Soccer league — have come out in support of the petition, but not all ball handlers are so gung ho about the idea. The people behind the pick-up games in Fort Greene Park say that playing in a dirt patch helps keep the games free of fees, sign-ups, and bureaucratic headaches that would kill their casual vibe.
“I would rather see it stay as is,” said Dave Allen, a Clinton Hill resident who says he has been kicking a ball around the dust bowl for 15 years. “A lot of wonderful things go on here.”
Wentworth counters that if a well-constructed fence goes up around the dirt patch during a spring re-seeding, the renegade players will have no choice but to play on a well-made field.
“I think it’s harder and harder to have pick-up games of soccer anywhere like this,” Wentworth said.
A spokeswoman from the parks department was mum on the subject of a new field, saying only that the office has not received Wentworth’s proposal and that such a project would need community support and funding.
