We love sports here in Glens Falls. The recent defeat of the lighting proposal for the Glens Falls High School football field is no reflection on our love for our sports teams or our High School. Here in Glens Falls, we also love common sense.
Just across the city, we have a publicly owned sports field complete with bleachers, ample parking and … yes … lights. True, the lights are old. But, they are paid for and they are in working order. Common sense tells us that our city could offer the use of East Field to the school district.
Background for the lighting proposal is here on the Glens Falls School District website. In the presentation slides, there are several pretty photos of new lighting towers from a lighting manufacturer. Notably absent is any analysis of alternatives. The only statement that resembles analysis is a quote published in the April 6, 2017 Chronicle:
Mr. Jenkins responds that traveling to off-campus facilities for games and practices “often creates significant expenses for athletic departments, can create additional expense and inconvenience parents/fans, often limits revenue gained from ticket/concession sales, typically creates scheduling difficulties,” and he notes the district would have to pay to rent East Field.
Note that there are no dollar estimates of the “significant expenses” in any readily available publications on the topic. The voters were given a choice to spend up to $691,200 or nothing. On May 16, they chose wisely.
In the Cirino administration, the City will be open to a conversation with the school district on sharing facilities, and additional conversations on other ways to work together to deliver superior services at the lowest cost to taxpayers.
In the meanwhile, we can see GreenJackets football at East Field. The first game of the season will be on July 8 against the Watertown Red & Black.
Rich Cirino for Mayor of Glens Falls 